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A coronavirus surge is overwhelming India’s health care system

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A horrific surge in coronavirus cases in India continued on Saturday, with new cases re-breaking a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/24/india/india-covid-19-record-infections-intl-hnk/index.html">single-day world record</a> as the country’s health care system struggled to keep up. But even as hospitals and crematories become overwhelmed and the country faces a significant <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/18/22390493/india-vaccine-shortage-export-ban-covid-19">vaccine shortage</a>, mass public events continue unrestricted, and the Indian government is <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/twitter-blocking-tweets-india">censoring tweets</a> critical of its pandemic response.
The country reported almost 347,000 new cases over a 24-hour stretch, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/asia/india-coronavirus-cases.html#cases">according to the New York Times</a>, setting a new worldwide high for the third day in a row. Deaths also climbed, to a record 2,624 in a single day, and the rolling seven-day average of daily new cases in India is quickly approaching 300,000.
As a result, hospitals are starting to run out of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-hospital/two-to-a-bed-in-delhi-hospital-as-indias-covid-crisis-spirals-idUSKBN2C21OT">beds</a> and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/coronavirus-outbreak/story/delhi-running-out-of-oxygen-high-court-asks-centre-to-take-urgent-steps-1793174-2021-04-20?__twitter_impression=true">oxygen</a> alike. In Delhi Saturday, one hospital network even announced that it was suspending admissions, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-daily-coronavirus-cases-climb-new-world-record-hospitals-buckle-2021-04-24/">according to Reuters</a>, while elsewhere patients have been forced to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-hospital/two-to-a-bed-in-delhi-hospital-as-indias-covid-crisis-spirals-idUSKBN2C21OT">share a hospital bed</a>.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is not a curve or a wave. It's a rocket. A straight vertical line.
If this is a bad COVID variant causing this, it will be prudent for all countries to help India with vaccines and raw materials for vaccines.
I'm not aware of the details. I just hope we do the right thing <a href="https://t.co/kdBeMU87AI">pic.twitter.com/kdBeMU87AI</a>
— Vincent Rajkumar (@VincentRK) <a href="https://twitter.com/VincentRK/status/1385723980770955268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Shortages have grown so bad that hospitals have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-hospitals-oxygen-tanks-coronavirus-surge-eeed59f1a8574e34353c046ca80419b1">resorted to using Twitter</a> to plead for more oxygen. At least 20 patients in a Delhi hospital died Friday, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/24/india/india-covid-19-record-infections-intl-hnk/index.html">according to CNN</a>, after additional oxygen supplies were delayed.
“The volume is humongous,” Jalil Parkar, a senior pulmonologist at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/21/india/india-covid-hospital-shortage-intl-hnk/index.html">told CNN</a>. “It’s just like a tsunami.”
The death toll has also begun to overwhelm crematories, raising concerns that, as bad as the official figures are, the true situation in India could be <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/coronavirus-covid-19-deaths-in-gujarat-far-exceed-government-figures/article34352916.ece">far worse</a>. According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-deaths.html">New York Times</a>, crematories are in some cases reporting more cremations in a day than the number of officially reported deaths.
And on Monday, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/india-covid-cases-surge/">the Washington Post reported</a> that in Surat, a city in India’s western Gujarat state, crematories are dealing with up to five times as many dead as normal. In one case, the steel chimney pipes melted from overuse.
Despite the magnitude of the crisis, India has yet to impose a new national lockdown, as it did in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/24/21190868/coronavirus-india-modi-lockdown-kashmir">March 2020</a>. And while some cities and states are <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/india-coronavirus-second-wave-shows-no-signs-of-slowing.html">imposing their own lockdowns</a>, almost-certain superspreader events — such as massive political rallies and a major Hindu religious festival — are continuing.
According to the BBC, millions of Hindus from around India have gathered for the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56770460">Kumbh Mela festival</a> in northern India, where attendees take a dip in the Ganges River.
And Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept up campaign events for his Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of West Bengal, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-19/modi-under-fire-for-campaigning-as-india-reels-from-virus-deaths">declaring</a> that “India had defeated Covid last year and India can do it again.”
At the same time, the Indian government has <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/twitter-blocking-tweets-india">successfully petitioned</a> Twitter to take down posts critical of its response to the crisis. According to BuzzFeed News, more than 50 critical tweets, from public officials, journalists, celebrities, and citizens, were taken down.
As <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/18/22390493/india-vaccine-shortage-export-ban-covid-19">Vox’s Katelyn Burns reported last week</a>, a vaccine shortage has also exacerbated the crisis — and international trade policy is contributing to that shortage.
Though India has substantial vaccine-manufacturing capacity, both the US and Europe have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/18/22390493/india-vaccine-shortage-export-ban-covid-19">imposed limits on exporting crucial raw materials</a>, hampering India’s vaccination effort. The country is home to almost 1.4 billion people, but only about 21.4 million people — or about 1.59 percent of the population — have been fully vaccinated, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/india">according to Johns Hopkins University</a>.
It’s unclear, however, whether the US will revise its policy in response to the crisis in India. On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price deflected when asked about the policy at a <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-22-2021/#post-237339-INDIA">press briefing</a>.
Price said that the current policy was under the “purview” of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the agency that oversees trade policy, but suggested that the Biden administration was prioritizing getting shots in American arms.
“What I will say broadly is that the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people,” Price said. ”That campaign is well underway.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people", US State Dept when asked about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID</a> vaccine raw materials export to India <a href="https://t.co/YvzhuaAv3n">pic.twitter.com/YvzhuaAv3n</a>
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) <a href="https://twitter.com/sidhant/status/1385546546373005315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The export limits, however, are by no means the sole cause of India’s vaccine woes, nor would lifting them be a panacea as the coronavirus crisis there deepens.
Among other problems, the current surge in cases could stall a vaccine rollout even if vaccine availability increased, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/21/22383860/india-coronavirus-second-wave-covid-19-vaccine">Vox’s Jen Kirby</a> has reported:
<blockquote>
It’s a lot harder to massively ramp up a vaccination campaign in a country that is already floundering because of a health crisis. The same nurses or technicians deployed to vaccinate people are often the same personnel who need to attend to Covid-19 patients or conduct testing and contract tracing.
That could intensify the coronavirus surge, which could further stall the vaccination campaign, creating a dangerous cycle.
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There are other problems as well, including lockdown fatigue, government failures, and a new Covid-19 variant emerging in India.
“The public sentiment [in India] is of denial, fatigue, and fatalistic surrender,” University of Michigan biostatistician and epidemiologist Bhramar Mukherjee <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/21/22383860/india-coronavirus-second-wave-covid-19-vaccine">told Kirby</a> this month. Not only are mass religious and political events going forward, but <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-bengal-rallies-flouting-covid-19-norms-101618425712682.html">according to the Hindustan Times</a>, mask-wearing and social distancing at those events have largely gone by the wayside.
That fatigue is only compounded by how economically devastating India’s first lockdown was for the country. Some 32 million people fell out of the country’s middle class, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/18/in-the-pandemic-indias-middle-class-shrinks-and-poverty-spreads-while-china-sees-smaller-changes/">according to Pew Research Center</a>, and the number of people living in poverty in India, defined as those living on $2 per day or less, increased by 75 million.
Adding to the crisis are concerns about a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-16/india-has-a-double-mutant-virus-variant-should-we-be-worried">new virus variant</a> spreading in India. The variant, a “double mutant,” with two identified mutations, may be more transmissible than other strains of the coronavirus.
Little about the variant is known for sure yet — according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-16/india-has-a-double-mutant-virus-variant-should-we-be-worried">Bloomberg</a>, it’s still unclear whether, or to what extent, the new variant, B.1.617, is driving India’s catastrophic spike in cases and deaths — but the mutant is quickly becoming the dominant strain in parts of India.
Already, the variant made up about 70 percent of virus samples collected in late March — an increase of more than 50 percent from three weeks earlier, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-know-about-indias-double-mutant-covid-19-variant-11619193481">the Wall Street Journal</a>.
“India had a double whammy,” T. Jacob John, a retired virology professor at India’s Christian Medical College, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-know-about-indias-double-mutant-covid-19-variant-11619193481">told the Journal</a>. “We let our guard down when the variants were spreading. It was the worst time to do so.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400986/india-coronavirus-surge-hospitals-deaths">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400986/india-coronavirus-surge-hospitals-deaths</a>

vox A coronavirus surge is overwhelming India’s health care system

A horrific surge in coronavirus cases in India continued on Saturday, with new cases re-breaking a single-day world record as the country’...

Why Biden’s statement recognizing the Armenian genocide is a big deal

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President Joe Biden became the first US president to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-remembrance-day/">formally refer to</a> atrocities committed against Armenians as a “genocide” on Saturday, 106 years after the 1915 start of an eight-year-long campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ottoman Empire that left <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/4/22/8465257/armenian-genocide">between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians</a> dead.
Previous presidents have refrained from using the word “genocide” in connection with the mass atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the early 20th century, and Turkey categorically denies that a genocide took place. So Biden’s declaration marks a major break from precedent, and could signal an increase in tensions with Turkey, a longtime US and NATO ally.
“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-remembrance-day/">statement</a> Saturday. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”
The move is the fulfillment of a <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1253722368041607168?s=20">campaign promise</a> for Biden, who pledged on April 24 last year to recognize the genocide if elected. It also comes on a symbolic date: April 24 is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a holiday observed in Armenia and by members of the Armenian diaspora.
And it’s emblematic of the Biden administration’s desire to center human rights in its foreign policy agenda, even at the cost of worsening relations with Turkey.
Biden is the first US leader in decades to use the word “genocide” in connection with the events of 1915-1923. Previous presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/22/bidens-bold-move-recognize-armenian-genocide/">made similar campaign promises</a> to recognize the Armenian genocide, but never followed through while in office, and Bush later <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/world/americas/10iht-turkey.5.7842263.html">called on Congress</a> to reject such a designation. In 1981, Ronald Reagan made a passing reference to “the genocide of the Armenians” during a <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamations-april-22-1981">speech</a> commemorating victims of the Holocaust.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/06/trump-white-house-finally-if-unintentionally-invokes-armenian-genocide/">accidentally recognized</a> the genocide last year when White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made reference to an “Armenian Genocide Memorial” in Denver, Colorado — but <a href="https://apnews.com/article/803509278038efefdbf018431161e6de">rejected</a> nonbinding resolutions by the House and Senate to declare it such.
Both the House and Senate measures, though not approved by Trump, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/over-objections-from-trump-turkey-senate-passes-armenian-genocide-remembrance-measure/2019/12/12/cd9e7f2e-1d14-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html">passed overwhelmingly</a> in 2019, paving the way for Biden’s action on Saturday.
With the addition of the US on Saturday, 30 countries — including France, Germany, and Russia — now recognize the genocide, according to a <a href="https://www.armenian-genocide.org/recognition_countries.html">list</a> maintained by the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC.
Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday ahead of the official US announcement. It was the first conversation between the two allied leaders since Biden took office more than three months ago, which some regional experts have taken as a sign of cooling relations between the countries. According to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/23/readout-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-call-with-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-of-turkey/">a readout of the call released by the White House</a>, the leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting “on the margins of the NATO Summit in June.” And according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-erdogan-agree-meet-nato-summit-june-white-house-2021-04-23/">news reports</a> — but not the readout — Biden told Erdogan of his intentions to recognize the genocide.
Saturday’s statement officially recognizing the genocide nonetheless elicited a harsh response from Turkey.
“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on April 24,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1386000753702150148?s=20">statement</a> Saturday that called on Biden to “correct this grave mistake.”
“This statement of the US ... will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual friendship and trust,” the foreign ministry said.
Prominent Armenians, however, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, welcomed the news on Saturday. Pashinyan <a href="https://twitter.com/NikolPashinyan/status/1385996291612758021">tweeted</a> a brief statement, and, in a <a href="https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2021/04/24/Nikol-Pashinyan-Joe-Biden/">letter</a> to Biden, said that the president’s words both paid “tribute” to victims of the genocide and also would help to prevent “the recurrence of similar crimes against mankind.”
“I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step on the way to acknowledging the truth, historical justice, and an invaluable of support for the descendants of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,” he wrote.
American lawmakers also welcomed Biden’s decision. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, celebrated the statement in a tweet Saturday.
“Thankful that @POTUS will align with congressional & scholarly consensus,” Menendez <a href="https://twitter.com/SFRCdems/status/1385973214397014017?s=20">wrote</a> from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Twitter account. “As I said in 2019 when our resolution to recognize & commemorate the genocide passed the Senate, to overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Thankful that <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> will align with congressional & scholarly consensus. As I said in 2019 when our resolution to recognize & commemorate the genocide passed the Senate, to overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation. <a href="https://t.co/1UH8YvG3rE">pic.twitter.com/1UH8YvG3rE</a>
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) <a href="https://twitter.com/SFRCdems/status/1385973214397014017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Former Sen. Bob Dole, who advocated for recognition of the Armenian genocide throughout his career, also tweeted his appreciation for Biden’s words — alongside documents showing his own attempts at gaining recognition of the genocide in Congress in the 1970s and ’80s.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hurrah for <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>! I’m very pleased to hear that he has officially recognized the Armenian genocide. This is a proud and historically significant moment for the United States, for Armenia, and for Armenians around the globe. It’s been a long time coming. <a href="https://t.co/UQJ39aPkDg">pic.twitter.com/UQJ39aPkDg</a>
— Senator Bob Dole (@SenatorDole) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorDole/status/1385995524852142083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“This is a proud and historically significant moment for the United States, for Armenia, and for Armenians around the globe,” the 97-year-old former presidential candidate <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorDole/status/1385995524852142083">wrote</a>. “It’s been a long time coming.”
The vehemence of Turkey’s response to the US recognition of the Armenian genocide isn’t particularly surprising, as the topic has long been a point of international contention for Turkey.
Specifically, allegations of genocide are viewed as “insulting Turkishness” by Turkey — an offense that has elicited <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6196764">criminal charges</a> in the past — because they implicate people who helped found the modern state of Turkey after the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1922.
Turkey’s aggressive efforts to push back on attempts to recognize atrocities committed against Armenians during World War I as genocide makes Biden’s decision all the more exceptional.
Previously, Turkey has responded to countries acknowledging the genocide by recalling diplomats, including ambassadors to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/2/11839830/germany-vote-armenian-genocide">Germany</a> and the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/4/12/turkey-recalls-vatican-envoy-over-pope-genocide-comment">Vatican</a>. On Tuesday, in anticipation of a statement from Biden on the matter, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that there could be consequences to Biden’s words.
“Statements that have no legal binding will have no benefit, but they will harm ties,” Cavusoglu said. “If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs.”
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/4/22/8465257/armenian-genocide">As Vox’s Amanda Taub explained in 2015</a>, such concerns over strategic interests in the region have long meant that the US and allies like the United Kingdom have avoided designating mass atrocities against Armenians as a genocide.
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Turkey is a key US ally — especially now, as the US relies on Turkey’s cooperation in the fight against ISIS in Syria. US officials have compromised on how they refer to the killings. When Obama makes a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-armenian-genocide-20150421-story.html">speech</a> to commemorate the anniversary of the genocide on Friday, White House officials say he will use the term “Meds Yeghern” instead of “genocide.”
Likewise, the United Kingdom has not recognized the genocide, apparently out of concern that doing so would jeopardize its relationship with Turkey. A leaked <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/03/armenia-genocide-denial-britain">Foreign Office briefing</a> from 1999 stated that Turkey was “neuralgic and defensive about the charge of genocide.” Therefore, the “only feasible option” was for the United Kingdom to continue to refuse to recognize the killings as genocide, because of “the importance of our relations (political, strategic and commercial) with Turkey.”
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However, the Biden administration has already taken a harder line on the US relationship with Turkey than previous administrations. As a candidate, Biden <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/16/turkey-condemns-bidens-criticism-of-autocrat-erdogan">labeled</a> Erdogan an “autocrat” in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/17/opinion/joe-biden-nytimes-interview.html">interview with the New York Times</a>, and last month his administration <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/u-s-faults-nato-ally-turkey-with-range-of-human-rights-issues">condemned</a> “significant human rights issues” in modern-day Turkey, including the jailing and alleged torture of journalists, activists, and political dissidents.
While it’s unclear exactly what the fallout from Saturday’s announcement will look like, other factors have already chilled the US-Turkey relationship. In December of last year, for example, shortly before Biden took office, the US <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/12/14/us-sanctions-nato-ally-turkey-over-purchase-of-russian-missile-defense-system/">imposed sanctions</a> on Turkey for purchasing Russian military hardware. In 2019, the US also <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/07/17/turkey-officially-kicked-out-of-f-35-program/">removed</a> Turkey from its joint F-35 stealth fighter program over the same purchase.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Turkey is a powerful country in a critical region. It is part of NATO. Our relationship matters. But President Erdogan’s success in blackmailing & bullying the US (and other countries) not to recognize the Armenian Genocide likely emboldened him as he grew more repressive. 4/7
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamanthaJPower/status/1385990693642981378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
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On Saturday, former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who is also Biden’s nominee to run the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, argued that the decision was an important step in pushing back on Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism.
“Turkey is a powerful country in a critical region,” Power <a href="https://twitter.com/SamanthaJPower/status/1385990693642981378?s=20">wrote on Twitter</a>. “It is part of NATO. Our relationship matters. But President Erdogan’s success in blackmailing & bullying the US (and other countries) not to recognize the Armenian Genocide likely emboldened him as he grew more repressive.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400851/armenian-genocide-turkey-biden-erdogan">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400851/armenian-genocide-turkey-biden-erdogan</a>

vox Why Biden’s statement recognizing the Armenian genocide is a big deal

President Joe Biden became the first US president to formally refer to atrocities committed against Armenians as a “genocide” on Saturday,...

Caitlyn Jenner is running to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in likely recall election

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Former Olympian and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner became one of the highest-profile people to enter California’s expected <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/22/22291140/gavin-newsom-california-governor-recall-campaign-covid-19-vaccination-school-closure">recall election</a> when she <a href="https://twitter.com/Caitlyn_Jenner/status/1385592674921578497?s=20">announced</a> Friday that she is launching a bid to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Jenner’s candidacy is expected to be an uphill battle, but the Republican-led challenge to Newsom’s tenure has received a boost in recent months thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic: first, as the recall campaign was extended because of the virus, and then after Newsom violated his own public health mandates by attending a maskless, indoor dinner party in November.
A recall election isn’t a sure thing yet, but it’s looking extremely likely, as Newsom opponents have gathered <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-recall-signatures-are-all-in-16034132.php">more than 2.1 million signatures</a> supporting the effort. Not all of those signatures will prove valid — at least 266,000 or so aren’t, <a href="https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/recalls/cumulative-newsom-heatlie.pdf">according to the California Secretary of State</a> — but it takes fewer than 1.5 million to trigger a recall.
“I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom’s disastrous time as governor,” Jenner, a Republican, said in a statement Friday. “Californians want better and deserve better from their governor.”
According to a recent poll by the <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-march-2021/?campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20210331&instance_id=28682&nl=california-today&regi_id=129667017&segment_id=54570&te=1&user_id=b28558b29a7ba478a6a9382d773ed7e0">Public Policy Institute of California</a>, only about 40 percent of California voters support a recall vote, and Newsom has launched a full-fledged “<a href="https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/anti-recall-campaign/">Stop the Republican Recall</a>” campaign to oppose the effort.
Jenner has criticized Newsom for “over-restrictive lockdowns” and high taxes, and also hit the governor for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-birthdays-california-coronavirus-pandemic-b89221b870cb137e3eb1695631000f9e">attending a dinner party</a> with lobbyists during the height of the pandemic last year.
“This isn’t the California we know,” Jenner said in her Friday statement. “This is Gavin Newsom’s California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends.”
<a href="https://www.axios.com/caitlyn-jenner-california-governor-run-710153ef-7a89-460d-b9ec-9efed2a9399f.html">According to Axios</a>, which first reported Jenner’s campaign announcement Friday, several former Trump campaign officials, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and pollster Tony Fabrizio, are already on board with Jenner’s campaign, although Parscale isn’t expected to take on a formal role.
Jenner, who is transgender, previously supported Trump, even <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/20/caitlyn-jenner-rnc-trump-cleveland/87337344/">appearing</a> at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. She publicly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/us/politics/caitlyn-jenner-trump-transgender-policy.html">walked back her support</a> in October 2018 in response to Trump administration attacks on trans Americans.
But a Jenner adviser <a href="https://www.axios.com/caitlyn-jenner-california-governor-run-710153ef-7a89-460d-b9ec-9efed2a9399f.html">told Axios</a> Friday that, in a recall election, Jenner would run “as someone that’s socially liberal and fiscally conservative” and steer away from the label of “Trump Republican.“
“This will be a campaign of solutions,” Jenner said Friday, “providing a roadmap back to prosperity to turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done to this state.”
Advisers also say that Jenner, who starred on the reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, will benefit from substantial name recognition, <a href="https://www.axios.com/caitlyn-jenner-california-governor-run-710153ef-7a89-460d-b9ec-9efed2a9399f.html">according to Axios</a>. Jenner first rose to fame as a decathlete, winning Olympic gold medals in the 1970s, and renewed her visibility as part of the Kardashian media empire.
But celebrity gossip site TMZ has reported that Jenner’s famous family members <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/24/kardashians-wont-campaign-cailtyn-jenner-california-governor-recall/">will not campaign</a> on her behalf, in part because of political differences. And although Jenner renounced her support of Trump, at least one prominent LGBTQ rights organization has come out against her candidacy, too.
Jenner “spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her?” the organization Equality California <a href="https://twitter.com/eqca/status/1385607574276382721">tweeted</a> Friday. “Hard pass.”
Recall efforts are common in the 19 states that allow them, but <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/22/22291140/gavin-newsom-california-governor-recall-campaign-covid-19-vaccination-school-closure">as Vox’s Jerusalem Demsas has explained</a>, they’re not often successful. In Newsom’s case, however, the pandemic — and his ill-advised dinner at a high-end Napa Valley restaurant in the midst of it — have landed him in a tight spot.
Although the recall effort itself, which was <a href="https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/recalls/complete-list-recall-attempts">filed</a> on February 21, 2020, predates the widespread Covid-19 crisis in the US, the deadline to collect signatures was <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/11/19/french-laundry-snafu-court-reprieve-reignites-longshot-newsom-recall-drive-1337241">extended</a> by a judge in November last year, and Newsom’s apparently maskless dinner at French Laundry the same month gave it a boost.
As Demsas <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/22/22291140/gavin-newsom-california-governor-recall-campaign-covid-19-vaccination-school-closure">reported</a>, “Newsom’s hypocrisy and decision to dine at a <a href="https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/3/21421335/french-laundry-yountville-thomas-keller-indoor-dining-rich-people">$350-per-person</a> establishment while so many of the state’s residents suffered from the economic downturn and residents were being warned against holiday gatherings with family was a mobilizing moment for the recall effort.”
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXLA</a> <a href="https://t.co/gtOVEwa864">pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864</a>
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1328932610169561090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
</div>
Despite Jenner’s announcement Friday, however, the recall isn’t yet set in stone. Signatures are still being verified, and although counties face an <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/newsom-recall-california-recall-process-election-governor-gop/36211086#">April 29 deadline</a> to report how many signatures they received, voters will have a chance to remove their signatures if they choose, <a href="https://calmatters.org/explainers/recalling-california-governor-explained/">according to CalMatters</a>.
Still, at least 1.2 million valid signatures have been received so far, meaning that a recall is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-california-coronavirus-4f7dbaca6082d28e8fa3b616d93da670">expected</a> to go forward.
If it does, Californians will have to answer two questions: Do they want to recall Newsom, and, if so, who do they want to replace him?
Actually removing Newsom from office takes a simple majority of voters, and winning the election to replace him takes only a plurality, <a href="https://calmatters.org/explainers/recalling-california-governor-explained/">according to CalMatters</a> — but there’s no limit to how many candidates can run. This could lead to a massive, chaotic field of challengers.
In addition to Jenner, previous Republican gubernatorial nominee John Cox, who lost to Newsom in 2018, is <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/inside-the-issues/2021/03/13/john-cox-targets-gov--gavin-newsom-in-new-campaign">in the running</a>, as is former San Diego mayor <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-kevin-faulconer-san-diego-coronavirus-pandemic-elections-8e504350ee04cbc4713f08f0ab467b33">Kevin Faulconer</a>, also a Republican.
In 2003, California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. Out of a field of more than 100, bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the election to replace him with <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Gray_Davis_recall_(2003)">less than 50 percent of the vote</a>; he eventually served two terms as a Republican governor.
“It’s an expensive, distracting pain in the ass for Californians if it happens,” Newsom spokesperson Dan Newman <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/22/22291140/gavin-newsom-california-governor-recall-campaign-covid-19-vaccination-school-closure">told Vox</a> last month. “In the Davis recall we had 135 candidates and it was a total circus. Some people think we could have 10 times as many candidates this time around.”
But as Demsas points out, the California electorate looks much different than in 2003. The state is more heavily Democratic, and Newsom’s favorability rating has hovered well above where Davis’s stood at the time of his recall. As a result, pollsters <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/californias-gavin-newsom-will-likely-face-a-recall-election-but-hell-probably-survive-it/?cid=_inlinerelated">suggest</a> that Newsom stands a good chance of riding out this recall campaign.
Things are also looking up in California from a public health perspective: The state has among the lowest rates of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">new Covid-19 infections</a> in the country, and more than 40 percent of Californians have <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11859829/see-how-many-people-got-the-covid-19-vaccine-in-your-county-so-far">received</a> at least one vaccine dose.
But with a recall effort already rolling, Jenner’s entrance into the race marks another wrinkle in Newsom’s hectic tenure as governor — and her celebrity could make for a more difficult fight.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400855/jenner-caitlyn-newsom-recall-california-governor">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400855/jenner-caitlyn-newsom-recall-california-governor</a>

vox Caitlyn Jenner is running to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in likely recall election

Former Olympian and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner became one of the highest-profile people to enter California’s expected recall election ...

Replacement Migration: Biden Admin To Increase Number Of Illegals Released Into U.S. By 800%

Joe Biden is preparing to significantly increase the number of migrants released into the U.S. who are apprehended by border patrol trying to enter America illegally, according to internal government documents.
The Biden administration is set to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/400-migrant-families-released-per-day">release</a> 400 migrant families into America every single day by mid-June, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/31/politics/migrants-us-southern-border/index.html">2 million illegals</a> are expected to flood to the southern border by September, overwhelming capacity limits, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) document obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“The number of individuals enrolled in the ICE Alternatives to Detention program has increased from 50 per day to 200 per day in March 2021,” the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/400-migrant-families-released-per-day">document</a> reportedly states.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/400-migrant-families-released-per-day" target="_blank" rel="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/400-migrant-families-released-per-day noopener noreferrer"><img alt="" class="wp-image-66190" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/migrant2948714875.jpg" srcset="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/migrant2948714875-300x157.jpg 300w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/migrant2948714875-768x401.jpg 768w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/migrant2948714875.jpg 1000w" /></a></figure>
“Within 90 days, the enrollment is projected to double to 400 per day. It is because of this unusual and compelling urgency that the Government requires the [emergency family reception sites] to meet the critical mission requirements of housing, feeding, transporting, and providing medical attention to these thousands of asylum-seeking families along the southwest border.”
The figure is 8 times greater than what the migrant numbers were in January, when apprehensions at the border were the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/illegal-border-crossings-climbed-in-january-raising-pandemic-worries-11613007374">highest</a> of any previous January in over a decade.
“The 400 figure is eight times greater than the 50 families that Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were releasing from its facilities each day early on in 2021. As of mid-March, Border Patrol agents were seeing 500 people arrive as part of a family group per day,” the Washington Examiner reported.
This comes as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Friday that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-cancels-fines-for-illegal-aliens-who-fail-to-leave-u-s-doesnt-serve-our-best-interest">government would stop fining illegals</a> who refused to leave the U.S.
“There is no indication that these penalties promoted compliance with non-citizens’ departure obligations,” Mayorkas said. “We can enforce our immigration laws without resorting to ineffective and unnecessary punitive measures.”
<div class="CRPgCR1H"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/restocked-reloaded?ims=yzkni&utm_campaign=RestockedReloaded&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=RestockedReloadedHero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/Restocked&Reloaded-hero-385-2.jpg" /></a></div>
Biden is simply executing the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.newswars.com/revealed-un-plan-to-flood-america-with-600-million-migrants/">Replacement Migration</a> plan, which aims to flood America with approximately 600 million Third World migrants by 2050 – about 10.8 million every year – creating a dependent underclass which the globalists can exploit for their political ends.
That’s why all across the U.S., big cities from New York to Austin are subsidizing the building of low-income housing – 250 square-foot coffin apartments – to house this new government-dependent subpopulation.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Twitter: <a href="https://www.infowars.com/rss.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@WhiteIsTheFury</a> 
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The United Nations suggest the best outcome is for the US to <a href="https://www.banned.video/watch?id=6079a9a1ebcd2829575a9015">assimilate 593 million immigrants by the year 2050</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/replacement-migration-biden-admin-to-increase-number-of-illegals-released-into-u-s-by-800">https://www.infowars.com/posts/replacement-migration-biden-admin-to-increase-number-of-illegals-released-into-u-s-by-800</a>

news Replacement Migration: Biden Admin To Increase Number Of Illegals Released Into U.S. By 800%

Joe Biden is preparing to significantly increase the number of migrants released into the U.S. who are apprehended by border patrol trying t...

DISTURBING! Vaccine Zoomed With Microscope Appears To Show Living Cells/Organisms Mixed In

Laboratory footage of what is <a href="https://odysee.com/@TimTruth:b/Pfizer-vaccine-zoomed:e">alleged</a> to be Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine shows puzzled German scientists debating what exactly they’re looking at under the microscope, as apparently organisms separate from the viral particles are discovered.
“It is not quite clear to me what we see here,” one scientist said.
“So, this is the content from Pfizer’s vaccine?” a colleague asked.
“This is from Pfizer, yes,” he replied, adding that all the little dots floating about were cells with a nucleus, leading him to wonder what their purpose was.
“Wow, but you don’t know what it is, yet?” the colleague asked.
“No, it could be a Morgellon,” he said, referring to what a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5811176/">National Institute of Health</a> study calls a “skin condition characterized by the presence of multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin” that involves the belief that the skin is infected by insects and other objects like string.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Alex Jones breaks down the current state of the <a href="https://cantcensortruth.com/watch?id=60834c49662c4a0603a40625">growing medical tyranny.</a>
<div class="3GV06fqB"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/restocked-reloaded?ims=yzkni&utm_campaign=RestockedReloaded&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=RestockedReloadedHero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/Restocked&Reloaded-hero-385-2.jpg" /></a></div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/disturbing-vaccine-zoomed-with-microscope-appears-to-show-living-cells-organisms-mixed-in">https://www.infowars.com/posts/disturbing-vaccine-zoomed-with-microscope-appears-to-show-living-cells-organisms-mixed-in</a>

news DISTURBING! Vaccine Zoomed With Microscope Appears To Show Living Cells/Organisms Mixed In

Laboratory footage of what is alleged to be Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine shows puzzled German scientists debating what exactly they’re looking...

Roofing Company Offers Free AR-15 With New Roof — Leftists Go Berserk

A roofing company out of Wyoming is giving away a free AR-15 rifle with the purchase of a new roof, a spectacular offer that has leftists freaking out.
Matt Thomas, marketing director for Wiggins Construction in Powell, said he came up with the idea after noticing people moving into the state in droves from liberal havens like California.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-66146" sizes="(max-width: 941px) 100vw, 941px" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/roofing24981498765-941x1024.jpg" srcset="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/roofing24981498765-276x300.jpg 276w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/roofing24981498765-768x836.jpg 768w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/04/roofing24981498765-941x1024.jpg 941w" /></figure>
“People are moving into Wyoming to get out of the cities and to get away from the regulation and to get away from living in fear,” Thomas <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2021/04/21/wyoming-roofing-company-offers-free-ar-15-with-new-roof-californians-lose-their-minds/">told</a> Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
“We’re just offering it as almost like, for the people that are recently moving to Wyoming as a ‘Welcome to Wyoming’ gift, and for the people that are here, locals, just a ‘thank you’ for doing business.”
Thomas lamented that although the promo has given them an edge over their competition, it’s also attracted the ire of liberals across the country.
“We’ve gotten quite a bit of flack from it,” Thomas said. “I don’t know how this story’s gotten to New Hampshire and to Chicago, Illinois, and to central California. But we are getting phone calls, voicemails from people saying all sorts of negative stuff about us, you know, stuff like ‘baby killers’, and we’re distributing weapons of mass destruction to the public.”
But Thomas noted that the local response has been largely positive, even from folks who don’t need a roof.
“But here’s the thing,” Thomas continued. “None of these people are locals that are really saying this. The response from the actual public and the locals has been phenomenal — we’ve got probably three voicemails this morning from people like ‘Hey, we don’t need a roof, but we saw your ad in the Powell Tribune and we just want to say that it’s awesome, and we really support what you guys are doing.’”
<div class="HkYYMHiC"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/restocked-reloaded?ims=yzkni&utm_campaign=RestockedReloaded&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=RestockedReloadedHero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/Restocked&Reloaded-hero-385-2.jpg" /></a></div>
A fews year ago, an Alabama roofing company called Digital Roofing pulled a similar stunt, promoting their rifle giveaway in this hilarious ad:
<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
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</figure>
The gun control debate has reignited in a big away after Joe Biden recently claimed that <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-second-amendment-no-amendment-is-absolute">“no amendment to the Constitution is absolute”</a>, referring specifically to the Second Amendment.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Owen breaks down the logic behind <a href="https://cantcensortruth.com/watch?id=607e1d63946c5733e6b991bd">Joe Biden’s statement about who wasn’t allowed to own guns</a> in 1776 when the 2nd amendment was written.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/roofing-company-offers-free-ar-15-with-new-roof-leftists-go-berserk">https://www.infowars.com/posts/roofing-company-offers-free-ar-15-with-new-roof-leftists-go-berserk</a>

news Roofing Company Offers Free AR-15 With New Roof — Leftists Go Berserk

A roofing company out of Wyoming is giving away a free AR-15 rifle with the purchase of a new roof, a spectacular offer that has leftists fr...