RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-transition-team-records-was-secretly-given-to-fbi-and-mueller-senate-committees-report_3551212.html?utm_

The General Service Administration (GSA) secretly gave President Donald Trump’s transition team records to then-special counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI in 2017, a report by two Senate committees says.

Meanwhile, the GSA refused to provide Trump’s transition team copies of its own records, according to the report (pdf).

GSA, the executive agency responsible for providing services to the transition teams of both Democrat and Republican candidates, had agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Trump’s transition team. According to the memorandum, the records would be regarded as the private property of the transition team and the GSA would not retain those records at the conclusion of the transition.

The majority staff report released on Friday by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Finance Committee shows GSA officials proactively contacted the FBI to ask if they should preserve Trump transition team records on Feb. 15, 2017, after Michael Flynn resigned as Trump’s national security adviser. The agency then decided to preserve all of the Trump transition team’s records after the FBI requested them to preserve records associated with Flynn.

The GSA officials’ offer to the FBI to preserve the Trump transition team’s records came after the removal process of the records had begun on Jan. 26, 2017, according to the terms of the memorandum.

The removal process was stopped afterward.

 A Thoughtful commentary from a friend:

I have watched some of the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings, and I am struck by the vehemence of the Democratic Senators inquiring how she would rule if Roe v. Wade were challenged in the Supreme Court. All this publicity has brought Roe v. Wade front and center once again, and yes, her faith alone suggests that she might be against abortion at any level.

However, all of those who spoke for her commented time and again on her ability to disregard her personal feelings and opinions in favor of the rule of law, so there is no reason to believe she would vote otherwise. She reiterated it time and again, question after question.

Personally, after these weeks of discovery and disclosure about Judge Barrett, I find her to be above reproach; she does not appear to have a single skeleton in her closet. Among her many attributes are integrity, grace, character, brilliance, humility and faith, and she is obviously more than qualified for the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

But what if Roe v. Wade did come up on the docket? For years there has been speculation about the constitutionally of the law; perhaps down the road there would be a challenge to it, and with the new balance on the court, it might be overturned or limited. This is what the pro-choice advocates fear. It got me to wondering how it is that the Supreme Court of the United States, arguably the country which is the greatest champion of human rights the world has ever seen, ever ever passed a law that so egregiously violates those rights.

https://amgreatness.com/2020/10/23/new-york-city-restaurateurs-can-no-longer-swallow-subjective-unscientific-covid-restrictions/

Restaurants, delis, and pubs are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. They’re places we go to congregate with colleagues, celebrate with family, and catch up on “hyperlocal” news and gossip with neighbors. Much of the character and vibrancy of a neighborhood is found in its eateries.

On April 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a Northeast regional plan to reopen the state’s economy in coordination with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware: “We have reached a plateau in the number of cases and . . . should start looking forward to reopening but with a plan. The art form will be doing it smartly, in a coordinated way, cooperatively and share intelligence.”

Unfortunately, Cuomo long ago ditched the idea of coordinating the full reopening of New York City with nearby states, and the Big Apple lagged months behind other regions in the state—and in the entire Northeast—to allow indoor dining and drinking.

Coincidentally or not, days after a planned class-action suit by more than 450 restaurants in New York City got local media coverage in early September, Cuomo relented—exactly one iota—and announced restaurants in the five boroughs could offer limited indoor seating starting September 30.

Restaurants in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and other suburban counties have been allowed to offer indoor seating at half of maximum occupancy since the middle of June, and are subject to significantly laxer mandatory practices.

Il Bacco Ristorante, the lead plaintiff in the class-action suit is located in Little Neck, Queens. Compare the COVID-19 protocols imposed on Il Bacco and Peter Luger Steak House, which is within walking distance in Great Neck, Long Island:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/studies-show-significant-drop-in-mortality-rate-since-beginning-of-pandemic_3550621.html

Two recent studies found that the rate of mortality has been dropping for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

One of the studies was conducted on hospitalizations in the New York University Langone Health system between March and August. An author of the study, Leora Horwitz, also an associate professor at the Grossman School of Medicine at NYU, said that from the beginning of the pandemic until now, the mortality rate for patients infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has decreased significantly.

The study, which looked at over 5,000 patients inside the Langone Health system, discovered that in the study timeframe, the mortality rate decreased from 25.6 percent in March to 7.6 percent in August—an 18 percent decrease from the start of the pandemic.

According to the data, the median age was seen to have decreased over time, meaning that as time went on, most patients infected with the CCP virus were younger. Although that change seemed to partially explain the decreased mortality rate, it didn’t account for all of it.

“Even after risk adjustment for variety of clinical and demographic factors, including severity of illness at presentation, mortality was significantly and progressively lower over the course of the study period,” the study stated.

Patients of all ages experienced a decreased mortality rate. Among those, patients who were at or over the age of 75 saw the largest decrease, from just under 45 percent in the beginning of March to a under 10 percent in August.

The study also suggests that the decreased mortality may be in part due to a combination of factors such as increased clinical experience, decreased hospital volume, as well as more advanced treatment procedures, something that was seen in another study conducted in the United Kingdom.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/epidemiologists-stray-from-the-covid-herd-11603477330?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

The Covid rebels make an unlikely pair. Jay Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata, an Indian city that pulsates with people. Martin Kulldorff is from Umeå, Sweden, population 90,000. Yet they have much in common. “I almost view Martin like a brother,” says the talkative Dr. Bhattacharya, 52, who moved to the U.S. with his Bengali parents when he was 4. “I mean, we complete each other’s sentences, as you can see.” The feeling is “mutual,” confirms the more phlegmatic Mr. Kulldorff, 58.

Dr. Bhattacharya, a physician and economist, and Mr. Kulldorf, a biostatistician—who study epidemiology at the medical schools at Stanford and Harvard, respectively—are, in the eyes of their critics, dangerous contrarians for opposing Covid-19 lockdowns. Some of the criticism borders on hysteria: A colleague accused Mr. Kulldorff of practicing “Trumpian epidemiology” after he gave an interview to the far-left Jacobin magazine in which he called for a “radically different” approach to pandemic management.

Most pertinently, the two men are the authors—with Sunetra Gupta, a professor of epidemiology at Oxford—of the Great Barrington Declaration. Published on Oct. 4, the declaration is a cri de coeur against lockdowns and other economic restrictions that have hobbled swaths of the world. It asked instead for “focused protection”—a policy of allowing “those at minimal risk of death” to resume their lives while societies concentrate on “better protecting those who are at highest risk.”

I interview the two men jointly by Zoom—Dr. Bhattacharya in California, Mr. Kulldorff in Massachusetts. The former speaks of a “systematic media campaign” against the declaration. He says Google “shadow banned” the text in the days after it was published. “If you typed in ‘Great Barrington Declaration,’ what would happen is that the actual website would appear on the second or third page, buried under a whole long list of negative stories.” (The matter has since been resolved, he says.)

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-business-activity-soars-to-20-month-high-in-october-ihs-markit_3550124.html

U.S. business activity rose to a 20-month high in October, although the rate of new business growth and new orders eased slightly, in part driven by political uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election and concerns about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak.

Data firm IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index (pdf), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to a reading of 55.5 this month—the highest reading since February 2019. A reading above 50 indicates growth in private sector output.

The survey’s flash services sector PMI rose to 56 this month, also a 20-month high, an encouraging sign as services account for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Manufacturing held steady in October, with the survey’s flash manufacturing PMI ticking up slightly to 53.3 from 53.2 in September.

“The U.S. economy looks to have started the fourth quarter on a strong footing, with business activity growing at a rate not seen since early 2019,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a statement. “The service sector led the expansion as increasing numbers of companies adapted to life with COVID19, while manufacturing continued to report solid growth amid rising demand from households and businesses.”

Some manufacturers and service industry companies said the CCP virus crisis had an adverse impact on demand, the report indicated. Other companies said some clients were waiting to place new orders until after Election Day. The survey’s flash composite new orders index dipped to 54.3 this month from a reading of 54.8 in September, although it remained in expansion territory.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/10/boycott-barrett-ploy-shows-difference-between-democrats-and-republicans/

It makes no sense to participate in the testimonial hearings that prove the nominee is highly qualified but then not show up for the vote.

I n a final infantile stunt, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats boycotted this morning’s vote on passing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination out of committee and onto the floor. Barring some unforeseen setback, she is going to be confirmed for a seat on the Supreme Court by early next week.

The boycott was a pointless gesture because Republicans had the votes necessary to move Judge Barrett’s nomination forward. It was a radical break with democratic norms, by which we register dissent by voting nay, not by picking up our ball and going home like poorly raised children. Having crossed yet another Rubicon, Democrats will eventually learn, at some point when it really costs them (as has their eradication of the filibuster in confirmations), that what goes around comes around. And practically speaking, the boycott was self-destructive, coming only after the nominee had impressed Americans for two days with her intellect, poise, and good nature. Today, no one much missed them at a committee vote that was a foregone conclusion. Everyone, however, was watching on the two days when the Democrats deigned to show up, and Barrett reduced them to an intramural competition for coveted Ass-Clown of the Year honors.

Therein lies a telling difference between the two parties. To win, Republicans must be sound in pursuing their strategies because the media oppose them at every turn. They are thus fortunate to be led by a superb tactician, Senator Mitch McConnell. Democrats, by contrast, are cheered on by the media in pursuing their strategies, regardless of whether they are sharp or daft. They are thus spared the criticism that disciplines politicians to plan carefully.

If you’re the Democrats, and you’re willing to employ such extreme measures as boycotting hearings to try to stop Barrett, then the time to boycott is when she testifies. The point would be to prevent her from impressing the country with her temperament and legal acumen. By such a ploy, it might have been possible to delay the hearing — and delays that could defer a final vote on Barrett until after Election Day are Democrats’ only realistic shot at killing it.

https://spectator.us/scott-atlas-shrugged-greater-restrictions/

Trust the experts’ is the battle cry of America’s elitists. After President Trump’s shock election in 2016 showed that Americans are sick of hearing from politicians, the politicized classes adopted experts as their proxy for power. Climate change ‘experts’ justify AOC’s radical Green New Deal with prophecies of planetary extinction. Foreign policy ‘experts’ claim America will destabilize the Middle East if, as Trump wants, we withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Medical ‘experts’ are wheeled out to justify increasing control over the lives of everyday Americans through draconian lockdowns, mask mandates and stringent travel restrictions.

Dr Scott Atlas, one of the newer members of the White House’s COVID-19 task force, is not an ‘expert’, according to the ever-changing standards of the establishment. He has only 25 years of high-level experience, including serving as the Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and crafting healthcare policy for over a decade. However, as his Wikipedia page condescendingly reminds us multiple times, Atlas is ‘a radiologist, not a specialist in public health or infectious diseases’, and thus his advice must be ignored. CDC director Robert Redfield was busted on a private phone call alleging that ‘everything he says is false’. Dr Anthony Fauci said on television he is ‘concerned’ about Atlas, the ‘outlier’ of the task force, spreading misinformation. Fox News’s Chris Wallace, who is also not an epidemiologist, mocked Atlas for predicting Trump would make a ‘full recovery’ after contracting COVID-19.

Twitter has joined the group of banshees trying to silence Atlas. The social media company blocked a post from him this week that said ‘Masks work? NO’, saying that it violated their policy on misinformation. Atlas says his tweet was intended to question public mask mandates, noting that they’re only useful when people are unable to social-distance.

There are plenty of other non-epidemiologists on the White House task force, such as labor secretary Eugene Scalia and secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue. Pennsylvania’s health secretary Rachel Levine, who sent coronavirus patients back to nursing homes, has a medical background in pediatrics. New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who signed an executive order doing the same, has no medical background at all. None of those people has been attacked by the public-facing health officials.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16674/fbi-director-christopher-wray

We must now come to grips with the likelihood that Wray is worse for the country than Comey.

Wray has an affirmative obligation to come forward with credible derogatory information and conduct appropriate investigations when presented with evidence. Even Comey did that. It now appears he stood on the sidelines and watched President Trump go through impeachment unjustly, while having credible reason to believe that Vice President Biden had actually done all of the very things Trump was falsely accused of doing. Wray had a legal obligation to tell the Attorney General, the President and the Congress. He had a moral obligation to tell the American people.

Wray’s record of non-performance was bad enough. Wray could not see the gross political bias in the FBI. He does not see voter fraud. Wray covers-up for corrupt FBI agents. He claims the violent domestic terrorist group Antifa is more of an ideology. These are astounding denials of documented facts.

Here is the bigger question concerning FBI Director Wray: What is going on within the FBI about which we have no idea? One is left to imagine the once vaunted Bureau as nothing but a rat’s nest of corruption populated by either political schemers or careerist ostriches obsessed with their pensions and post-retirement, FBI-referred jobs.

Christopher Wray assumed office as the eighth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 2, 2017. He was preceded by the odious coup-plotter James Comey. We must now come to grips with the likelihood that Wray is worse for the country than Comey.

The old adage that “the cover-up is worse than the crime” is applicable here. Comey’s plot was seditious. Wray’s conspiracy runs deeper. He adopted the wrongdoing of Comey and talked it away in Washingtonian passive voice: “mistakes were made.” Wray engaged in a program of damage control and institutional preservation for the disgraced FBI. He did not clean house and reform. Wray is acting as a legal obstructionist, fighting tooth and nail to keep the full story of the corrupt “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation of President Trump and his associates from the American people. FISA warrants are phonied-up and courts lied to repeatedly? Oh, that’s a “training” problem.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/10/delusional_psychosis_drives_americans_to_enforce_fearbased_covid_restrictions.html

How have we come from “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” to “Fear is virtuous…and mandatory?”

From the beginning, fear hasdriven the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Americans have been told they should be afraid.  More important,  they have been instructed that expressing fear, through the wearing of masks and self-isolation by the healthy, is their moral duty.  For the first time in United States history, fear is no longer seen as an emotion to overcome, like jealousy or greed, but rather as one to embrace.  We should be proud to be afraid, we are told, and we should call out anyone who isn’t.  In fact, any act of courage must be condemned as immoral as well as illegal.

Recently, I was asked by two masked adults riding the elevator in my office building to leave if I chose to not put a mask on.  I declined.  Out of curiosity, I asked them why it mattered to them that I wasn’t wearing a mask, as they clearly believed that masks protected them from the deadly coronavirus, and, since they were wearing masks, why my not wearing a mask should matter to them.  They had no answer to my question, other than to swear at me before announcing self-righteously, “It’s a sign of respect and courtesy.”  They appeared to be afraid.

In addition, I believe they were suffering from delusional psychosis — a fixed false belief contrary to reality.  This delusional state includes the superstition that masks protect healthy people from infection, that standing six feet apart from others saves lives, and that schools and businesses must remain indefinitely closed to “keep everyone safe.”  This delusional system of thinking has become so ingrained in the minds of most Americans that it resists all rational argument.  No evidence that challenges it will be considered by those who suffer from the mental illness.