Definitely Maybe, Or Maybe Not On Accidental Wuhan Lab Release

The WaPo tells us that US intelligence is convinced that the coronavirus might have been released as part of a lab accident of some sort, but actual evidence is lacking.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

US Intelligence...

[James D.]

Since when has the WaPo cared about "actual evidence" ?

Pretty much all their reporting for at least the last 4 years has been based on unverifiable reports supposedly received from unnamed sources.

[henry]

Seems to me you fix the problem as top priority. Sorting out the source can wait — it’s not as if China is hiding a vaccine.

[Old Lurker]

James, I stopped when I saw "WaPo" and "Intelligence" on the same line.

[Captain Hate]

Willowed

It is like tracking Covid's Rate of Change:

Bush started with $5T and ended at $10T after 8 years.

Obama started at $10T and ended at $20T in 8 years.

Trump started at $20T and gets to $30T in 4 years.

Remember how Paul Ryan was a budget cutting hawk? HaHaHaHaHa!

[Captain Hate]

Dear God, Biden sounds like my grandmother when we're trying to tell her how Facebook works.

Posted by: joe, living dangerously at May 01, 2020 12:36 PM (hA/7S)

[Dave (in MA)]

per MM's comment at the end of the last thread, security breach or just another piece of the "fundamental transformation"?

[Tom R]

Rutgers should fire her because she lowers the average IQ level of their faculty staff.

https://jonathanturley.org/2020/05/01/a-gross-necropolitical-calculation-rutgers-professor-charges-trump-and-white-conservatives-with-using-the-virus-to-kill-black-people/

[Thomas Collins]

From the WaPo article:

"Chinese officials and scientists have strenuously denied any connection between the coronavirus outbreak and its showcase research center, which includes a high-security facility known as the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

Ah, we've cleared up two things today: 1. Sloppy lab practices in Red China did not cause the outbreak of the Woo Floo virus. 2. The former Delaware Senator and Veep did no fingery-poo. Glad we now have closure on those matters.

[MissMarple2]

Dave,

I maintain it could be both. Considering now that China and Iran are more closely aligned than I had originally realized, the "both" answer seems more likely.

[joan]

Thanks, henry.

I'll try again. I am an eternal optimist.

[MissMarple2]

Joni Ernst
@SenJoniErnst
·
42s
Why in the world is the US gov’t going to invest our servicemembers’ retirement in companies in China? We need to put an end to that.

@POTUS
can take action ASAP to stop this, and I’m working with @MarcoRubio
on a bill to ban this from ever happening again.

[Extraneus]

Joan, here's how you do it.

First, copy the URL of the pic you want. For example, here are the URLs of the pics that Porch posted:

Small version: https://i.postimg.cc/HskLkPJT/EWifpw-BWs-AIN6w-T.jpg

Large version: https://i.postimg.cc/6q0g20mZ/EWifpw-BWs-AIN6w-T.jpg

Depending on the device you're using, you can usually get the URL by right-clicking the pic, and choosing "Copy Image Address" or something similar. (No need to upload a pic to your own computer, just find one on the web and copy its address.)

Next, all you need to do is paste whatever URL you copied into an img tag, like so:

<img src="https://i.postimg.cc/HskLkPJT/EWifpw-BWs-AIN6w-T.jpg"/>

For those who want to have a small pic be a link to a big pic, just do like Dave said:

<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/6q0g20mZ/EWifpw-BWs-AIN6w-T.jpg"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/HskLkPJT/EWifpw-BWs-AIN6w-T.jpg"/></a>

Which will show up like this:

Then you could add a note that the pic is clickable.

(Click to open.)

[James D.]

Tom R, the depressing thing to think about is, maybe she doesn't lower the average IQ there.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Someone suggested that some lab assistant may have been selling carcasses out of the back of the lab. This is entirely possible.

They just don't have the same health standards nor ethical standards as other countries.

Instead of incinerating the carcasses someone decided to make a buck (or civet or bat or pangolin).

[Old Lurker]

That willowed that Cap'n brought over was what was posted under the headline "Congressman says national debt could reach $30T this September".

[Extraneus]

Not just possible, Matt, but an employee of that same or a similar lab was sentenced to 12 years in prison for doing that exact thing last year.

From what I read, he had made serious money selling the lab animals, too. Something like $1M over the span of a year or two? I'll try to find a link.

[Porchlight]

Thanks for the pic help, Dave and Ext!

I've been wondering that for years.

[Extraneus]

Here's one. It doesn't give the person's name or prison sentence, but makes the claim.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/

[Porchlight]

I'm sure this was already linked but it's so great:

California Prisons Release Thousands Of Felons To Make Room For Skaters, Surfers, People Who Go Outside

The Bee, of course.

[Neo]

“The source added that it is “disturbing to Durham” that “there weren’t any whistleblowers” that came forward in the FBI and Justice Department at the onset of the Russia probe”
https://twitter.com/JohnWHuber/status/1256276422496321536

[Old Lurker]

“disturbing to Durham” that “there weren’t any whistleblowers” that came forward in the FBI and Justice Department at the onset of the Russia probe”

Because they are rotten from the top to the bottom. We learned that when the much vaunted "legions of honest hardworking FBI agents" did not "walk out in droves" if allegations against their leaders were true.

[clarice]

Joan, why bother trying to master all that? Just post a link with a brief description if this is getting troublesome.

As for all the statistical info it seems to me that with manipulation we know of and irregularities of timing and such, everyone is doing his best to make sense of the morass. No reason to get into personal fights about it when you can merely note discrepancies and uncertainties of which there are plenty.

[Tom R]

“The source added that it is “disturbing to Durham” that “there weren’t any whistleblowers” that came forward in the FBI and Justice Department at the onset of the Russia probe”

I don't know who it was or if it counts as a whistleblower but somebody in the DOJ or FBI informed Trump the White House was bugged shortly after he took office. This assumes Sundance's speculation is correct.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/02/19/how-long-before-we-hear-about-fbi-recordings-in-the-white-house/

[hrtshpdbox]

...even though I wasn't even thinking about him in my original comment, and nobody says a word.

Well, since you were replying to my comment, it's difficult to see how that could be true. Also, if in fact "nobody said a word" I'd be surprised; if you don't post for ten minutes people are asking where you are.

[Comanche Voter]

Discard the nutter theory that some evil Chinese genius created a new virus for use as a bioweapon!

Okay this is not a man made virus. But some Chinese researcher climbed in a bat cave in a remote part of China and waded though bat feces, bat urine and bat blood to get this sample virus---and bring it back to Wuhan. That was a deliberate and intentional act---bringing something out of the bat cave as it were.

Once in the Wuhan laboratory either through negligence, cupidity,or through intentional release it got out.

You go to Skull Island, you capture King Kong Virus and bring him or it into civilization, it's on you to keep King Kong in his cage. And China didn't. And it started with an intentional act on their part.

[Buckeye]

OL

I read your post on the grandkids schooling issue.

Does YL have a spare bedroom?

For $166/day/kid, I will rent you Mrs. Buckeye.

She is an experienced homeschool teacher, and she won’t turn any of those kids into snowflakes.

Tell YL she is an ace at doing the laundry too. That oughta seal the deal:)

[Old Lurker]

And Buckeye, I'd bet you'd slip me a little under the table to get her out of your hair?

Win. Win. Win.

[Tom R]

Because they are rotten from the top to the bottom.

Are the FBI agents who discovered incriminating evidence on Weiner's computer which in turn gave Comey the justification to reopen the Hillary email investigation which in turn helped Trump get elected rotten as well or are they the rank and file guys Trump says he has a lot of respect for?

[henry]

Press Conference with White House spokeslady.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

[henry]

Hospital funding, based on Covid19 admissions.

[henry]

New York,and Cook County get the most $$$$

[Old Lurker]

Buckeye, I sent her your offer.

Not sure if Mel had already told her.

[Dave (in MA)]

Always nice to be in an online Teams meeting where someone's eating chips into the mic.

[Porchlight]

OL, it's bad enough paying for public school via property taxes, I can't imagine paying for private on top of that and getting the same amount of "schooling" which is almost none.

I do feel for teachers that would like to but aren't allowed to provide true instruction, online or otherwise.

For the most part I've been focused on my fourth grader and I like the assignments he's been given. There's a lot of variety and they're mostly not learning anything stupid. I just don't have as much time as needed to be his everyday teacher and he doesn't listen to me. :)

[clarice]

Just learned a kid died a block away from me minutes ago after falling on a trail thru Rock Creek Park. So sad. Lots of rescue ambulances came but apparently couldn't revive him. If the schools had not been closed to protect kids froma virus which poses no threat to children his age....

[Porchlight]

That's so sad, clarice.

[Captain Hate]

That willowed that Cap'n brought over was what was posted under the headline "Congressman says national debt could reach $30T this September".

Every damn one of our elected officials brought us to this point and need to be skewered for the blithe way they just spend spend spend with nary a thought on who's paying for it.

[MissMarple2]

When I saw that $166/day/child I thought it was a typo, so I didn't comment on it. Good heavens!

[henry]

EAA fly in cancelled due to Kung Flu.

[henry]

Stay at home order prevents EAA from starting ground prep (usually starts today). So Evers has killed the fly in. Aviators feel free to sen thank you notes to Gov Evers.

[Jack Lillywhite]

That used to be my weekend bike ride, Clarice. From my place in Chevy Chase, DC down to Rock Creek all the way down to the mall my rugby game. There are some rough areas even on the bike trails.

[MissMarple2]

clarice,

I still remember a boy who fell off the playground slide and was killed. It happened when I was in the 2nd grade and he landed on the macadam playground surface.

After that, they outlawed that type of playground in the county.

I always hate to hear of a child being killed like that.

[Porchlight]

We have friends with seven kids who are avid mountain bikers and the kids are extremely daring. They've had some scrapes and falls over the years but nothing too major.

Surprised it doesn't happen more often in biking. A helmet can't keep you from breaking your neck.

[Extraneus]

Mika Brzezinski After Biden Interview: Were Democrats Wrong About Believing All Women?

[Buckeye]

I just don't have as much time as needed to be his everyday teacher and he doesn't listen to me. :)

I’m the only one foolish enough to not listen to Mrs. Buckeye.

Has resulted in severe knuckle rapping events:)

[Old Lurker]

MM, figure about $25,000 per kid all in for about 150 days of school.

[MissMarple2]

Well, Old Lurker, I hope they are getting a good education!

[Old Lurker]

Not this Spring, they ain't MM!

[sbwaters]

I'd say the new Press Secretary held her own. She was gracious, informative, and not averse to several times pointing out press shortcomings.

Heh!

[henry]

Local perspective on shut downs.

https://davidblaska.com/2020/04/25/is-america-recovering/

[MissMarple2]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/01/metro/jeffrey-epsteins-harvard-ties-were-extensive-new-report-reveals/

I'll say. He gave them over $9 million over 10 years and had an office he was allowed to use, called "Jeffrey's Office."

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

steph-let me know if you are coming to park in front of my house.

Thanks RSE, but we are discussing going downtown to the V to catch all the flyovers in BH and down 75/85 and sit in the truck tailgate and grab some Varsity for lunch. OMG it's been so long since I've had a Chili dog O Rings and a FO.

Looks to me like the V should catch several of the loops around Atlanta at least at a distance.

Thanks for the offer.

[henry]

Cohen denied Kung Flu release from prison.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-denied-prison-release.html

[Jack Lillywhite]

We are in the very best of hands:

In Maryland a car wash owner was arrested for operating a car wash. Someone
explain why a carwash needs to be closed. The drive thru liquor stores are
still open but automated car washes not.
https://smnewsnet.com/archives/473034/owner-of-sparkle-car-wash-in-waldorf-criminally-charged-with-violating-governors-executive-order-violation/
Don’t worry. The Governor has a roadmap to recovery. OK. Maybe he will
start with carwashes.
https://smnewsnet.com/archives/473020/governor-hogan-introduces-safe-gradual-and-effective-maryland-strong-roadmap-to-recovery/
Maryland has 500,000 test kits and the governor ordered the National Guard
to watch over them at a secret location.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8276045/Maryland-governor-using-National-Guard-protect-tests-federal-government.html

[Narciso]

Ive heard of that author dave just not that book.

[Comanche Voter]

So no Kung Flu release from prison for Michael Cohen--but Michael Avenatti gets out?

It helps to have a Democrat judge for a friend.

[Old Lurker]

Gov Fatman Hogan is hardpressed to keep up with Northam in VA and Bowser in DC, Jack.

[clarice]

The private school tuition is at least double that for elementary school and even more for high school.OL's kids are just in nursery or kindergarten I think.

[Narciso]

Hoagie haogan is very helpful.

[Old Lurker]

Also, Jack, if you read Fatman's Roadmap to Recovery, there is no start date. So it is just BS for the masses.

[Captain Hate]

I was on both sides of the education fence with my daughters. My line in the sand came when my older daughter was in middle school. She had a Christmas/Hannukah Winter Festival program in which her school orchestra participated. Let me be clear about one thing: the orchestra was pretty bad. However most parents were there to see their children in the chorus and obnoxiously talked among themselves during the orchestra's performance. I was steaming the entire time. My college roomie, as a principal of a school in Maryland, once interrupted the performance to chastise the parents for being so rude to their offspring who'd worked hard in putting together. Needless to say the gelded eunuchs of my daughter's school didn't do a damn thing. I was so upset I walked over two miles home to cool off.

We looked at private schools that spring. The one we liked most, Hathaway Brown, wanted both of them but the older daughter insisted that she wanted to stay in public school. With the exception of her Calculus and Chemistry teachers, I thought her education was terrible. Her graduation ceremony was a fucking disgrace. She spent a year at Bard college, where an English tutor in a few short sessions corrected her prodigious grammar deficiencies which we continually complained about to the schools. Bard wasn't a good fit for her for a variety of reasons, like having a girl in her dorm try to commit suicide by slashing her wrists and being brought back the following day by her idiot parents before the school said GTFO; but in that one year she formed a lot of enduring friendships. She eventually went to Hunter, one of the city universities of New York in Manhattan where she eventually got a doctor of physical therapy degree for less total expenses than the money I'd set aside for it.

All of the younger daughter's funds were exhausted at Hathaway Brown. She got a great education there and got into Columbia easily. I still debate internally how wise an expenditure Columbia was, even though it's a moot point, but she insists it was worth it and she's well aware of my attitudes on education.

So two different paths to lives which they're both happy about.

[James D.]

MM @ 2:52

They knew he was a convicted pedophile when they were taking his money. They didn't care.

In the last year, we've learned that Harvard:
Illegally took money from the Chinese government
Took money from a known pedophile
Doesn't believe that parents have any rights to their own children
Doesn't believe in free speech or the first amendment

Why are they considered "elite" again?

[KevlarKid]

Just you, 4Mika.

[Narciso]

Their company or mossad handler james d

[Pinandpuller]

This would actually be useful if it came with a jeweler’s loupe:

🌹 Rose 🌹
Meaning: Democratic Socialist

The rose emoji is the best representation for the symbol of the political group, Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA.

One user, Keith Spencer, who uses the rose in his Twitter handle, knows the long history of the red rose used for labor groups and social democrats. For him the emoji connects him to like-minded people.

https://mashable.com/2017/06/03/emoji-twitter-handles-meanings/

[KevlarKid]

Trump Press Secs should bring an air horn to the podium for those times it's not quite possible to turn twin bobcats loose on their steenkeen asses.

[Extraneus]

Here's a 2015 article with a pic of the layout of part of a Smithfield Foods production line. It appears that they were already social distancing.

(Click to open.)

C. Larry Pope, its president and CEO, had a fireplace in his sprawling executive office, which looked more like a hunting lodge than the command center for what had become America’s largest pork business.

But in 2013, a Chinese firm bought this quintessential slice of Americana – Main Street and all. The takeover, valued at $7.1 billion, remains the largest-ever Chinese acquisition of an American company.

Naturally, it riled patriots and protectionists. Pope’s mother asked him why he sold to the communists. Pope also had to defend himself in the local newspaper: “These are not Russian communists. They like Americans.”

Some xenophobia was to be expected. Anti-Chinese racism in America goes back nearly as far as, well, holiday ham.

https://www.revealnews.org/article/how-china-purchased-a-prime-cut-of-americas-pork-industry/

[KevlarKid]

Democratic Socialist. Isn't that an oxycontinmoron?

[Extraneus]

What a fool. Who didn't know in 2013 that China was more of a threat to us than Russia?

[henry]

Ext, Mutt Rumbly still hasn’t figured that out. And he gets stupider by the hour.

https://twitter.com/cnbc/status/1256299924238610434?s=21

[lyle]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-michael-flynn-was-set-up_3334834.html

The Iran Deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) was, with the Affordable Care Act, one of the twin pillars of Obama’s presidency on which he wanted to base his legacy.

[snip]

Flynn was known to have been one of the most adamant opponents of the Iran Deal within the Obama administration in the first place and, with his military record as a three-star general plus aforementioned intelligence expertise, perhaps the most powerful one.

So bringing down Flynn was a two-for, striking a blow at the new president while hopefully helping to preserve the Iran Deal. The second part didn’t work, but the first did… for a while.

Zippy’s nicotine-stained girl hands are all over this.

[Melinda]

Willowed:

It's a business:

Brian Cates //Flynn & Breitbart's Army!
@drawandstrike
LOL

#IBelieveBiden is the #1 trend on US twitter.

The same people that launched #MeToo just killed it.

Same people.

#MeTooUnlessItsBiden yeah, you dumbasses go with that.

https://twitter.com/drawandstrike/status/125626778

[Pinandpuller]

So I hear someone sold Anderson Cooper a baby.

[henry]

Article on EAA cancellation

https://www.wisn.com/article/pandemic-causes-organizers-to-cancel-eaa-airventure-oshkosh-2020/32344162

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Keisha shows her Bottom

Mayor Bottoms of ATL showed her ass today complaining about the Simon Malls opening in the ATL area today. The malls opened for about two hours and then were shut down. Rescheduled to open now on Monday.

I have a friend that has a Greek Rest at Sugarloaf Mills that had stocked the restaurant anticipating opening today and had staff there doing their usual Lunch stuff after prepping all morning and boy is he pissed. Food spoilage here we come...

There are only a couple of Simon malls actually in the city proper, but all Simon malls except for one on the Southside in the yuck part of town shut down.

The mall my friend has his restaurant at isn't even in the same county as ATL - about 9 miles outside the perimeter and about 15ish miles from ATL city limits.

[KevlarKid]

And the story is deeper than the HK stock exchange listed parent company WH Group that "owns" Smithfield--- that parent company is a subsidiary of a $100B equity firm based in Beijing in operation since the 1950s.

Owner: CDH Investments (33.7%)
Goldman Sachs (5.2%)
New Horizon Capital (4.2%), Temasek Holdings(2.8%).[3]

[Captain Hate]

I'd forgotten how stupid this stuttering goof was

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=poz6W0znOfk

Amazing YouTube hasn't censored it.

[Melinda]

1950s "equity" "Firm". Heh!

Where all the corporate officers just happen to have military titles.

Coincidence!

[rse]

Steph-

She has been handling herself like a baby not getting her way. I thought the hearse stunt down by the capitol yesterday was also in poor taste.

Little puddingbrain can't comprehend how this virus works or what this jerking around means to business people.

[Tom R]

Yesterday Comey sent out another cryptic tweet. It was a picture of a rose about to fully bloom. Here is one interpretation of what it might mean.

https://twitter.com/iowa_trump/status/1256243504122077184?s=21

[Melinda]

"offering a rose to say I'm sorry."

Also works, and can be met with open or closed arms.

Or Armed arms, whichever, in this case.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Yep, RSE. Typical entitled affirmative action snowflake. There is a KLB worshipper on our ND website for Snellville, and she is all KLB shit don't stink and why aren't we doing what ATL is doing... uh, cause we aren't a major city nor are we swimming in the grift enabled politics of ATL. Duh!

[Threadkiller]

LOL, CH. That YouTube is still great.

[Extraneus]

That was a long article I posted about the Smithfield acquisition, written by kind of a dope but with a lot if interesting details.

By the end of 2012, the Chinese owned $900 million in U.S. farmland – a 1,000 percent increase – making them the largest buyers that year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Smithfield deal included another $480 million in U.S. farmland, which would push the Chinese stake to nearly $1.4 billion in less than two years.

Pope calmly addressed the senators in his measured Southern cadence. He assured them the Smithfield deal was simply the case of one private company buying another. He testified that the Chinese government had absolutely no management control in Shuanghui.

Pope explained that the deal would create jobs in the U.S., not destroy them. Shuanghui’s plan to import more American pork would ramp up production at Smithfield’s 460 hog farms, creating more money for farmers and more jobs at the slaughterhouses.

“China is looking to another market to help feed its growing demand,” Pope said. “I think it is good for America. I think this is the opportunity America has been looking for to import jobs.”

Stabenow pushed back. She wanted to know why Smithfield could not increase its sales to China as an American company and why only a takeover by a Chinese firm would open the doors to the world’s largest pork market. The Chinese government was unfairly blocking American hog farmers from exporting there, she said.

If the situation were reversed, if Smithfield tried to buy Shuanghui, the Chinese government never would allow it, Stabenow concluded.

Pope found a more sympathetic ear in U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts from Kansas, which is a key state for the production of livestock feed.

American grain companies had supported the deal. In the past five years, China has become their biggest foreign customer.

Roberts lampooned criticism of the deal, asking Pope, “Did you realize you were the victim of a Chinese communist plot?”

Laughter broke out in the hearing. Pope chuckled.

“Senator, I did not,” he said.

“And the control of your company somehow to allow China to control the pork industry?” Roberts asked, laughter erupting again.

“Senator, I was not aware of that,” Pope responded, a smile spreading across his face.

...

As CEO, Pope stood to earn at least $26.9 million in bonuses from the sale of America’s largest pork company.

[Jack Lillywhite]

The red rose is also the symbol on tweets of a member of the Democrat Socialist of America looneytunes branch.

[Extraneus]

During my tour, I received a glossy company handout that served as an overview for plant visitors and included a translation in broken English. It described the company’s purchase of Smithfield Foods and how that would help modernize its facilities in China.

It also stated something surprising. Shuanghui is required to adhere to Beijing’s five-year plan, the Communist Party’s national economic agenda. And the document was clear. Shuanghui meets its obligations and follows the path laid out by the Communist Party.

Despite its public listing in Hong Kong, Shuanghui answers to the Chinese government – going beyond regulatory compliance. It receives directives from Beijing, and it follows them. The company’s candidness surprised me, especially because U.S. senators had been sparring over this exact topic a year earlier. Here was conclusive proof.

[Extraneus]

I asked him about the company document.

He broke it down for me. The Chinese government acts like a de facto board of directors for the country’s domestic industries – even for publicly traded companies like Shuanghui. The Communist Party issues the five-year plan, and Shuanghui is expected to follow that direction. The government can say it wants the Chinese meat industry to employ certain strategies, and all domestic companies are expected to adhere. Yet the day-to-day management of the company, how it chooses to carry out those directives, is left to the company’s management. And if there is no directive, the company is free to proceed as it views best.

[Threadkiller]

https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/columns/quarantine-and-a-free-society

[Extraneus]

Please skip this stuff if not interested.

With its five-year plan in 2011, the Chinese government identified meat processing as a strategically important industry, and with the Smithfield purchase, the country gained access to the world’s most advanced animal rearing, slaughtering and meat processing and distribution technology, she said.

Haley has testified before Congress several times on how China’s growth is damaging the U.S. economy. She is a fast, firm speaker, and once she gets on a roll, she can dominate a conversation.

The Chinese will quickly import Smithfield’s technology to China, using it to increase their domestic production and establish massive processing plants to churn out sausages and deli cuts from animals raised around the world, she said.

The United States increasingly will become a large hog farm for the Chinese, with refrigerated shipping containers transporting frozen pig carcasses to China, Haley said.

“Hog farming is one of the most polluting industries in the world, and so that will occur in Smithfield and elsewhere, the 400-plus farms that Smithfield and now Shuanghui owns around the United States,” she said. “But the processing of that food will go to China, and China will acquire the brand name, Smithfield.”

[Threadkiller]

Thank you for those quotes, Ext.

[henry]

Trump at some WH thing 4:15

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

[Momto2]

More from Atl - the Peachtree Road Race which is always on July 4th has been rescheduled - now on Thanksgiving day.

https://www.11alive.com/article/sports/ajc-peachtree-road-race/ajc-peachtree-road-race-moving-to-thanksgiving-day/85-576246d1-fee9-4692-b8e8-723bd35a71ff

[Extraneus]

I asked Pope, who is now an executive with WH Group, if he stuck by his testimony to Congress that the Chinese government has no management control over his new company.

“I have never seen a government official related to this transaction from China at all,” he said.

I told him about the Shuanghui company document and what Robert Wan had told me about the company’s adherence to the government’s five-year plan.

“I have not seen any of that influence in our board meetings or in Chairman Wan’s instructions and directions,” he said. “I’m not getting any pressure from the WH Group or the Chinese government to do something that is not a good business transaction.”

He spent much of our conversation extolling the merits of the deal, how it would improve food safety and pork supply in China and create more American farm jobs.

But for the first time, he publicly acknowledged the Chinese government’s five-year plan.

“In many respects, this is carrying out the government’s five-year plan, which is to improve the quality and the security of their food supply,” he said. “In many respects, this transaction is right down the middle of the fairway of what the government wants to see happen.”

[Extraneus]

Pope said Smithfield Foods now is transferring its technology to China, where American engineers are working with their Chinese counterparts to build a state-of-the-art food processing plant. It will be as advanced as anything in the United States, he added. And it is only the start.

WH Group is spending a quarter of a billion dollars to have four of these facilities open within two years. It will process the meat in China and sell it under the Smithfield brand, according to the company. It also will use Smithfield technology to build three slaughterhouses and a large-scale farm that are expected to be finished in the next few years.

The Chinese government has laid out a clear plan for its agriculture industry, and Pope is now part of it.

I handed him the Bank of China document that stated the government’s financial support for the deal.

“Wow” was the first word out of Pope’s mouth after he finished reading.

I asked him if he could have gotten a similar $4 billion loan, in a single day, with backing from the U.S. government, to buy a foreign company and its technology.

“No, I don’t think that’s doable in any industry that I can think of,” he said.

He said it would be hard for American companies to compete with that, acknowledging that American competitiveness is at risk.

“I think the concern that others should have is that there’s going to be more foreign companies wanting to buy U.S. companies,” Pope said. “We need to have a bit of concern that what we’ve got, others value more than we do.”

Gee. Well at least he got his $30M bonus.

[Melinda]

Ext-

I'm sure there's no specific CCP member that views that operation as his personal fiefdom.

[Melinda]

Third from the bottom paragraph has an intriguing location listed that I wasn't expecting.

Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Iranian Nationals for Violating Money Laundering & Sanctions Laws by Procuring Petroleum Tanker

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/criminal-charges-filed-against-two-iranian-nationals-violating-money-laundering-sanctions

[lyle]

https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2020/05/01/youll-know-which-ones-are-which-nancy-pelosi-mashup-comparing-her-answers-about-kavanaugh-to-biden-is-a-doozy-watch/

Full disclosure: I couldn’t finish watching this. Maybe you have a stronger stomach.

[Melinda]

Huh, no wonder they keep trying to steer moar and moar cash back to the states, cities, and their more friendliest of friends:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-29/coronavirus-slows-money-laundering-to-a-crawl

[Captain Hate]

The Amazon scammers couldn't be more obvious with the heading saying my payment info has been "Frozent". Top flight grifting imo.