90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

CBS, NBC Flock to Whistleblower Complaint Despite Claim Being Debunked

Almost two weeks ago, the liberal media pounced on claims from a former HHS official who claimed, without evidence, that he was fired for not pushing hydroxychloroquine. Well, that official was back in the news Tuesday because he filed a whistleblower complaint.

But this time, Dr. Rick Bright added on new claims he didn’t tell the press about before now. The CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News gobbled up the allegations despite the fact they made no sense given their previous reporting.

Even though Bright’s initial allegations were proven bogus within hours by Politico’s Dan Diamond, CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell and anti-Trump White House correspondent Weijia Jiang glorified Bright, suggesting he was exposing something awful within the Trump administration.

As if his claims were the biggest story of the day, Jiang decried that “President Trump is not addressing the bombshell report, focusing instead on reopening the country.”

Rhetorically holding up Bright’s complaint as if it was gospel, Jiang read from it. “Bright says he, ‘encountered resistance from HHS leadership, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who appeared intent on downplaying this catastrophic threat.” And that Bright's persistent demands for urgent action had caused an ‘S’ storm,’” she read.

But according to a previous media-generated scandal, Azar was one of the health officials who’s own early warnings were supposedly falling on Trump’s deaf ears. Bright also claimed Trump adviser Peter Navarro wasn’t taking his warnings seriously in early February. But the media had claimed Navarro was trying to warn Trump in early January.

This makes no sense.

Among Bright’s other never before heard of allegations, Jiang rehashed his original claim: “Bright also says he was reassigned because he resisted officials who wanted to promote hydroxychloroquine and demanded that New York and New Jersey be flooded with these drugs.” Meanwhile, Diamond reported that e-mails exist that prove Bright was the leading voice behind HHS’s acquisition of large quantities of the drug.

Jiang also touted comments from Bright’s lawyers, who she failed to mention also represented Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and her lies against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Over on NBC, senior White House correspondent Peter Alexander hyped: “In this new whistleblower complaint obtained by NBC News, Bright says he was retaliated against for resisting efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections.” But Alexander never mentioned what political connections there were nor if the complaint proved them.

Alexander also showed his cognitive dissonance when pushing the nonsensical claim about Azar. “Bright's urgent warnings about the need to act, starting in early January, were met with indifference and later hostility from HHS leaders, including Secretary Azar.”

On top of pushing these bogus allegations, Jiang had deceptively edited a video of President Trump to make it seem as though he was disbanding the Coronavirus Task Force with no plan to keep people safe. The first soundbite below is from CBS, the second is from...

No Pandemic Pause in Nigeria as Muslim Militants Kill 13 Christians, Kidnap 13 More, Attack 5 Villages

Fulani Muslim militants recently killed 13 Christians and kidnapped 13 others in a series of attacks over a three-day period in north-central Nigeria.

Morning Star News reports the raids on the five villages in the counties of Kajuru and Chikun in Kaduna state occurred from April 23-25 and drove more than 1,000 people from their homes.

The Christians who were killed were members of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Catholic, Baptist, United Church of Christ in Nations (HEKAN), or Assemblies of God churches.

The militants invaded Kikwari and Kujeni communities in Kajuru County on April 25 at about 3:00 pm, Luka Binniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People's Union (SOKAPU), said in a statement.

"The armed herdsmen stormed Kikwari Village, Kajuru LGA, and shot three persons and carted away livestock and foodstuff in large quantities as residents fled for dear lives," Binniyat said.

"As the overpowered Christians made bids to escape, some were rounded up and herded into the vast forest," he explained. "To date, no one has any information about their conditions. No one is sure if they are dead or alive and in what condition."

"All the villagers numbering over 1,000 are now taking refuge with relations in nearby towns under tough conditions in this grim period of coronavirus lockdown," Binniyat added.

The armed herdsmen were accompanied by other assailants who reportedly wore military uniforms.

Binniyat appealed to the federal and Kaduna State governments to rescue the abducted Christians and end the militants' attacks on defenseless...

Awesome Video Shows How Japanese Bees Deal With Murder Hornets -- And Ted Cruz Is Loving It

Recently, a lot of reports have been published about the somewhat troubling news that so-called “killer hornets” have been found in Washington state: an Asian breed of hornets that grows to be 2 inches long and that’s famous for completely wiping out beehives.

The genocide these hornets love to commit against bees — especially American and European bees — is reason enough to fear them, but it gets even worse. As Al Jazeera reported Tuesday, these hornets’ sting can actually be deadly for some humans too.

Todd Murray, a WSU Extension entomologist and invasive species specialist, tells the network that, “It’s a shockingly large hornet. It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees.”

Honey bee breeder Susan Cobey agrees. “”They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face!” she is quoted as saying.

Yep, they’re truly monstrous. Hornets from hell. Satan’s very own insects.

There is good news, however. As this video shows, Japanese honey bees have adapted to the presence of the killer hornets and have found ways to fight back....

The video’s biggest fan, however, may very well be Ted Cruz. The Texas senator retweeted Morse’s tweet and added: “OK, this may be the coolest video ever. Murder hornets defeated!”

In the modern era, Florida has become the country’s premier presidential “battleground” state, where razor-thin victories by candidates can and have decided outcomes.

That’s the best reason why the state should have impeccable voter registration rolls. But, according to state officials, it doesn’t.

In fact, according to Politico, Florida’s Division of Election director Maria Matthews testified in federal court Monday that there could be as many as 85,000 illegal voters registered in the state, and worse, they’re not likely to all be removed in time for the 2020 presidential contest.

Matthews said state elections officials have flagged thousands of voters who’ve been convicted of felonies. Some may now be actually serving their prison sentences, while others have served time for murder or sex offenses — both of which make them ineligible to vote under Amendment 4, which ends Florida’s lifetime ban on voting for most who have been convicted of felonies.

The site noted:

A potential purge of voters in Florida, which has more than 13.7 million registered voters, could have out-sized impact, because many elections are won or lost on narrow margins. President Donald Trump won Florida in 2016 by fewer than 113,000 votes.

While Florida voters approved Amendment 4 in 2018, the state legislature passed a law in 2019 that requires former felons to pay all outstanding restitution, civil penalties, and fines that a judge has ordered before they can cast ballots. Civil rights groups have since filed suits challenging the law.

During her hours-long testimony, attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration had her explain how the state has been responding to the law, which includes procedures for how Florida is identifying ineligible voters. She also said that state officials are currently working to clear a backlog of voters who have been identified as possibly being ineligible.

But the process is painstakingly slow. Matthews testified that Florida election officials only have the ability to examine 57 cases per day, which means it could take as long as four years to review an estimated 85,000 files of people identified as having been convicted of a felony that makes them ineligible to get voting rights back.

As Florida continues to winnow its voter registration rolls to ensure compliance with the law, other states have been facing lawsuits — primarily from legal watchdog group Judicial Watch — to clean up theirs as well.

The effort has been years in the making. In 2014, Judicial Watch officials put two states and the nation’s capital on notice that they planned to file federal lawsuits requiring them to clean up registration rolls after the group found that they had more voters registered than residents of their states and city.

In subsequent suits, Judicial Watch has claimed victory as well. In January 2019, the group announced it had successfully forced the deep blue state of California to remove an estimated 1.5 million inactive and...