20200807 News Clippings
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on U.S. imposed aluminum tariffs (Press Conf + Q&A)
“The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam and 10 senior figures, in a major new step against China’s clampdown in the semi-autonomous city.
In the most significant US action since China imposed a tough security law, Lam and the other leaders of the Asian financial hub will have any assets in the United States blocked.
The move also criminalises any US financial transactions with them.
“The United States stands with the people of Hong Kong and we will use our tools and authorities to target those undermining their autonomy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. […]
Top officials
According to the US Treasury website, the list also includes Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng, national security chief Eric Chan, current police chief Chris Tang, as well as ex-police chief Stephen Lo who oversaw the early months of last year’s protests and unrest. Security chief John Lee, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang and mainland officials Luo Huining and Zhang Xiaoming are also listed.”
CNN, “US sanctions Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam over democratic crackdowns”
The US sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Friday for her role in crackdowns on political freedom in the region.
The US Treasury Department charged that Lam and 10 other individuals “have implemented policies directly aimed at curbing freedom of expression and assembly, and democratic processes, and are subsequently responsible for the degradation of Hong Kong’s autonomy.”
(see update below) CNN, “Georgia student suspended after posting a photo of a crowded school hallway says it was ‘good and necessary trouble'”
Hannah Watters, a student at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, saw a photo of packed halls on the first day of school go viral. And when she saw that little had changed after that, she told CNN’s Laura Coates on Thursday, she felt she had to share what it looked like inside the school. So, she took a photo of the scene and posted it to social media.
“I was concerned for the safety of everyone in that building and everyone in the county because precautions that the CDC and guidelines that the CDC has been telling us for months now, weren’t being followed,” Watters said.
By Friday, Hannah said, her suspension had been lifted and wiped from her record, with the school’s principal calling her mother to tell her that she could return to class on Monday.
Although she agreed that she had breached the school’s policy, which prohibits filming students and posting their images to social media without their consent, Hannah said in an interview that she did not regret doing so as the images had shed light on the crowding and lack of social distancing in her school.
“My mom has always told me that she won’t get mad at us if we get in trouble as long as it’s ‘good trouble,’” Hannah said, invoking the famous phrase of Representative John Lewis, the civil rights leader who was laid to rest in Atlanta last week. “You’re bettering society and bettering the world, so those consequences don’t outweigh the end result.”
[Q:] But people aren’t getting their tests back quickly enough.
[Bill Gates A:] Well, that’s just stupidity. The majority of all US tests are completely garbage, wasted. If you don’t care how late the date is and you reimburse at the same level, of course they’re going to take every customer. Because they are making ridiculous money, and it’s mostly rich people that are getting access to that. You have to have the reimbursement system pay a little bit extra for 24 hours, pay the normal fee for 48 hours, and pay nothing [if it isn’t done by then]. And they will fix it overnight.
[Q:] Why don’t we just do that?
[A:] Because the federal government sets that reimbursement system. When we tell them to change it they say, “As far as we can tell, we’re just doing a great job, it’s amazing!” Here we are, this is August. We are the only country in the world where we waste the most money on tests. Fix the reimbursement. Set up the CDC website. But I have been on that kick, and people are tired of listening to me.
[Q:] As someone who has built your life on science and logic, I’m curious what you think when you see so many people signing onto this anti-science view of the world.
[A:] Well, strangely, I’m involved in almost everything that anti-science is fighting. I’m involved with climate change, GMOs, and vaccines. The irony is that it’s digital social media that allows this kind of titillating, oversimplistic explanation of, “OK, there’s just an evil person, and that explains all of this.” And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger].
CNN, “Delta CEO: ‘Well over 100 people’ have been banned from flying after refusing to wear masks”
xxx
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe by email
Kempton - ideas Revolutionary 