Jeffrey Epstein’s Ghislaine Maxwell to another jail


This 8 July 2020 video from New York City in the USA says about itself:

A look into Ghislaine Maxwell’s life behind bars l GMA

Maxwell is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, just across the East River from the prison where Jeffrey Epstein was found dead.

By Kevin Reed in the USA:

Jeffrey Epstein’s confidante Ghislaine Maxwell relocated to federal jail in New York City

8 July 2020

Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime partner of convicted sex offender and wealthy New Yorker Jeffrey Epstein, has been relocated to a federal jail in Brooklyn where she will appear via remote video before a Manhattan judge on July 14.

Federal Bureau of Prison officials disclosed on Monday that Maxwell was transferred from Merrimack County Jail in New Hampshire to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn but did not say on what day she was relocated. Prosecutors have indicated that Maxwell is a flight risk and any request for bail will be denied.

On July 2, US Department of Justice officials announced that Maxwell had been arrested and charged on four counts of enticing minors to engage in illegal sexual activity and two counts of perjury, in connection with her role in grooming girls as young as 14 for abuse by Epstein and to be trafficked in his international sex ring during the 1990s.

Last year, Jeffrey Epstein was awaiting trial on multiple counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors when he was found dead in his jail cell in the Manhattan Correction Center on August 10. Although the New York City medical examiner determined that Epstein committed suicide by hanging, the circumstances at the prison indicated and the opinion of other medical experts was that he had been strangled to death.

Although authorities, including Attorney General William Barr, claimed at the time that a vigorous investigation of Epstein’s sexual abuse of young girls would be continued, it took nearly eleven months for Maxwell to be arrested

One of the reasons given for the delay was that authorities were uncertain where Maxwell was or if she was even in the United States. However, more than twenty armed agents and police reportedly raided her million-dollar mansion called Tucked Away on a 156-acre property in rural Bradford, New Hampshire on July 2, breaking down the front door and bringing Maxwell out in handcuffs.

According to the unsealed indictment, between 1994 and 1997, Maxwell and Epstein, “enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which Maxwell knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse. Moreover, in an effort to conceal her crimes, Maxwell repeatedly lied when questioned about her conduct, including in relation to some of the minors described herein, when providing testimony under oath in 2016.”

Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, is the youngest daughter of the British media baron Robert Maxwell, who owned the Mirror Group Newspapers before he drowned under suspicious circumstances near his yacht called Lady Ghislaine in the North Atlantic off the coast of the Canary Islands in 1991.

Shortly after Robert’s death, Ghislaine moved to New York City and met the investment advisor, multimillionaire and well-connected socialite Jeffrey Epstein with whom she developed a close relationship.

Over the next two decades, Maxwell and Epstein—with her connections to European royalty and wealthy elite and with his connections to US celebrities and the financial and political elite—established a social network through lavish parties and get-togethers at Epstein’s residences in Palm Beach, Manhattan, New Mexico and his private island in the US Virgin Islands that involved sex with young girls.

A measure of the connections that Epstein had was revealed on Tuesday when the New York State Department of Financial Services announced that Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $150 million in fines to settle allegations that it “inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions,” despite knowing Epstein’s “terrible criminal history.”

According to a report in the Washington Post, “The German bank’s ties to Epstein began in 2013, years after the billionaire pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges in Florida, according to the consent decree filed by the New York regulator. Deutsche Bank knew about Epstein’s past, classifying him as a ‘high-risk’ client, but also considered the relationship potentially lucrative—$100 million to $300 million in revenue over time.”

In 2014, the report says, bank officials met with Epstein at his New York City mansion after reports emerged about his activities. “The bank ultimately decided to continue doing business with Epstein but established new safeguards, which were largely ignored, according to the consent decree.” The bank processed more than $7 million in settlement payments that Epstein made to alleged coconspirators.

Clearly, the role of Deutsche Bank is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corporate, financial and government participation in facilitating and covering up Epstein’s criminal activities. In 2008, after dozens of young girls had given statements to Palm Beach law enforcement officials that Epstein had both sexually abused them and also paid them to help recruit a network of teenagers for his trafficking operation, the federal government intervened and blocked the local case from going forward.

At that time, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alex Acosta, worked out a plea deal with Epstein’s legal team that included a “non-prosecution agreement” stipulating that Epstein and none of his coconspirators could be charged in the future for any crimes related to his guilt in “procuring a minor for prostitution.” Ghislaine Maxwell was named as one of his coconspirators in that agreement.

New York, USA homophobic police brutality


This video from the USA says about itself:

Police Use Force Against Protesters at NYC Queer Liberation March | NowThis

Police in New York City used pepper spray on peaceful protesters marching for Black lives over Pride weekend.

In US news and current events today, protesters peacefully marched as part of the Queer Liberation March for Black Lives & Against Police Brutality in NYC on June 28.

They were met with a violent response by some NYPD members. The march began in lower Manhattan, went around the Stonewall Inn, and ended in a rally at Washington Square Park. In one altercation, a police officer charged at protesters, yelling, ‘Get off the street.’ The NYPD said it arrested at least 3 people at the march but it was unable to give a full count. Protesters intervened as police were arresting 2 people for graffiti, and the police responded using pepper spray, according to witnesses who spoke to Gothamist. The march was held on the 51st anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

Corporate Democrats lose New York primary elections


This 23 June 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Watch Jamaal Bowman‘s POWERFUL de facto victory speech as it appears he has defeated incumbent Representative Eliot Engel.

Eliot Engel is a veteran establishment Democratic party politician. Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Like Donald Trump, he supported the wrecking of President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. He voted for George W Bush’s Iraq war. In 2014, he spoke along with Islamophobic extremist Pamela Geller at a rally.

In April 2020, he falsely claimed that he had helped to fight COVID-19 in New York City, while in fact, he had not been to New York since March.

Recently, he said that that the only criticized police brutality against Black Lives Matter protesters because he had to fight the primary election against Jamaal Bowman.

16-TERM DEMOCRAT ON THE ROPES IN NEW YORK A progressive upstart led longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in the closely watched Democratic primary for New York’s 16th Congressional District early today, with the outcome inconclusive. With less than 20% of precincts reporting, Bronx middle school principal Jamaal Bowman led Engel by more than 25 percentage points. Bowman delivered a triumphant speech to supporters gathered at an outdoor, riverside restaurant. [HuffPost]

From British daily The Independent today:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won a shock primary victory two years ago and swiftly rose to national political stardom, looks set to win a second term in Congress.

The 30-year-old progressive defeated a number of centrist primary challengers from her own party, paving the way for re-election in New York’s 14th district, a safe Democratic seat that covers the Bronx and Queens.

An increase in postal ballots due to the coronavirus means that many thousands of votes will not be counted until next week. But with early results showing Ms Ocasio-Cortez with a more than 50 per cent lead, the Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening. …

Her own primary victory in 2018 against 10-term incumbent Joe Cowley,

Crowley, not Cowley

then the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, was one few saw coming. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a graduate of Boston University, was working behind the bar in a restaurant in New York’s Union Square when she launched her run. She took office at 29 years old, making her the youngest woman to ever serve in congress.

She did not go alone. The Bronx native was part of a wave progressive Democrats who unseated long-term, centrist incumbents. The arrival in Washington of AOC and “the Squad” — Reps Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib — marked a leftward shift in Democratic party politics. Each of them advocated for more radical solutions to America’s ills and the excesses of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The question waiting to be answered by many of the primary races in New York on Tuesday was whether AOC’s arrival on the national stage was a harbinger of things to come, or an anomaly. And whether progressives could continue to pull the Democratic Party to the left at a time of national crisis and in a presidential election year that saw the archetypal establishment politician, former vice president Joe Biden, easily win the nomination.

This year, several races in New York have set up long-shot challenges to long-term incumbents that mirror AOC’s breakthrough campaign. One, in particular, could serve as a measure of progressive Democrats’ strength.

Jamaal Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal who has been described as “the next AOC”, poses a serious threat to 73-year-old Eliot Engel, a 16-term congressman who was first elected in 1988. Democratic Party elders firmly closed ranks around Engel — Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York governor Andrew Cuomo all endorsed him.

Bowman, however, secured the nod from AOC: “Not only is Jamaal a profound community leader, but I believe he’d make a fantastic colleague in the United States House of Representatives,” she said.

Due to the high number of absentee ballots being cast in the New York primaries — a result of the coronavirus pandemic — results from close races may not be known for another week. But early results showed Bowman far ahead of Engel. A win for him would suggest that the progressive wave is by no means over. …

Her most serious primary challenger in this election was a former TV anchor and former Republican Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, who has received substantial backing from large-dollar donors.

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera lived in a high-priced apartment in Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan for years.

Back in Queens, she has played a balancing act between the national stage and local issues. The district that AOC represents is one of the most diverse in the state of New York. Of its 650,000 residents, 50 percent are Hispanic, 17 percent Asian and 23 percent white, according to 2016 census figures. It also has the fifth-highest percentage of service-sector workers in all congressional districts.

Cierra Johnson, 34, happened to be passing by when AOC stopped in Astoria on Tuesday. She had spent the morning volunteering for the campaign, handing out flyers. Her husband is Bolivian and recently lost the opportunity to obtain a Green Card due to a ban by the Trump administration. She said she was drawn to AOC because “she was willing to stand up and fight.”

COVID-19 US Open tennis, without Nadal


This 2019 tennis video is called Rafael Nadal – 20 Shots That Will Make You Say WOW!

Translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the professional tennis circuit has been shut down. After Roland Garros was moved to September and Wimbledon was canceled, the organization of the US Open announced last week that the grand slam tournament in New York will continue on the normal date. …

The question is how many players dare to travel to the United States which is badly hit by coronavirus? The professional circuit will start again in early August, culminating in the US Open from August 31 to September 13. …

It’s an industry with a lot of money …

Many players have already said that they do not feel like playing at the US Open for various reasons. Among them Simona Halep, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer will no longer play this year due to a knee injury.

[Dutch tennis commentator Marcella] Mesker: “Nadal is actually a coward.”

No, Ms Mesker, Nadal is more of a hero than a coward! He refuses to play Russian roulette with the health and lives of himself, other players, umpires, ball boys, ball girls and their contacts. Russian roulette in New York City, where COVID-19 dead are dumped into mass graves and vans with 100 decomposing dead bodies were found.

Dutch Kiki Bertens is not sure yet whether she will play at the US Open. She doubts it.

Also translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

Tennis players Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric have been infected with the coronavirus. The Bulgarian, number nineteen in the world rankings, and the Croat, number 33, have announced this on social media.

Grigor Dimitrov on coronavirus

Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, the world’s number three and seven, also took part in the Adria tour.

Where it turned out that Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric were infected.

UPDATE: another tennis player infected: Viktor Troicki.

Also, five players of Red Star Belgrade football team turn out to have COVID-19.

Fight for a billion New York oysters


This 12 May 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Billion Oyster Project Aims to Restore NY Harbor Reefs | NowThis

Meet the conservationists fighting to restore the oyster reefs in New York’s harbor.

In US news and current events today, conservationists are restoring oyster reefs in New York Harbor in hopes of bringing New Yorkers closer to nature. Billion Oyster Project is an initiative to bring back the oysters that once thrived in large numbers in NY Harbor. Like many organizations, the project had to shift to remote work due to stay-at-home orders but we were still able to speak to the project’s co-founder about how long the organization has engaged thousands of students and volunteers to rebuild a lost habitat within an important natural resource.

100 decomposing dead bodies in New York


This 30 April 2020 NBC New York Coronavirus Coverage TV video from the USA says about itself:

Dozens of bodies were found in a truck at a New York City funeral home after neighbors reported a foul smell. Ida Siegal reports.

Still, US President Trump, Brazilian President Bolsonaro, and their ‘Flu Klux Klan‘ followers claim that coronavirus is ‘just a little flu’ and that workers should play Russian roulette with their health and lives by going back to unsafe workplaces.

By Morgan Winsor and Emily Shapiro, ABC news in the USA, 30 April 2020, 06:14:

US coronavirus death toll surpasses 60,000 and 100 bodies found in trucks outside NYC funeral home

The U.S. has more than 1 million diagnosed cases …

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 227,000 people worldwide.

More than 3.1 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations’ outbreaks.

How accurate is the US coronavirus death count? Some experts say it’s off by ‘tens of thousands’.

The United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 1 million diagnosed cases and at least 60,966 deaths. …

US federal inmate dies of COVID-19 after giving birth while on ventilator

7:37 p.m.: 100 bodies found in trucks outside funeral home

One hundred bodies have been found in two unrefrigerated trucks outside of a Brooklyn, New York, funeral home after neighbors complained about a stench from bodies being stored in trailers.

“The Department has been notified of storage issues of decedents and alternate arrangements are being made by the funeral home,” the New York State Health Department said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Funeral directors are required to store decedents awaiting burial or other final disposition in appropriate conditions and follow their routine infection prevention and control precautions.

The funeral home director at Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services on Utica Avenue in the Flatlands section told New York ABC station WABC they ran out of places to store the bodies.

The state health department will issue a summons for improper storage.

New York, USA bullying of sick healthcare workers


This 17 April 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Frontline Medical Workers Protest New NYC Policy Demanding Doctor’s Notes When They Are Sick

A new policy at New York City’s public hospitals requires medical workers who call in sick to produce a doctor’s note. “We know that people just need a mental health day,” says Sean Petty, a registered nurse at a public hospital in the Bronx who is organizing a protest against the policy. “Thousands of us have been exposed. Health workers are the least tested group of people in this city.” Petty is a member of the board of directors of the New York State Nurses Association.

Amazon lack of coronavirus safety, workers strike


This 31 March 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Amazon Employees Strike Due to COVID-19 Crisis | NowThis

Listen to the powerful words of this Amazon employee in New York, where workers have walked off the job to demand better safety precautions in response to COVID-19.

In US news and current events today, Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York are protesting unfit working conditions during the coronavirus outbreak. The employees claim there is a lack of protective equipment, increased stress and demand, and at least 10 cases of coronavirus within the facility.

New York Rikers Island prisoners on strike


This 27 March 2020 video about New York City in the USA says about itself:

Rikers Island Prisoners Strike for Soap, Cleaning Wipes

Journalist Kim Kelly has been in contact with a prisoner inside Rikers Island. She talks with TRNN’s Eddie Conway about why immediate further action is needed to protect people from COVID-19.

New York mayor, from Clinton to Sanders


This 15 February 2020 video from the USA about New York City billionaire Democratic party presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg says about itself:

Mike Bloomberg just rejoined several elitist all-white clubs. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report.

Michael Bloomberg Quietly Rejoined Clubs That Largely Exclude Women, Minorities. When no one was watching, the presidential candidate re-upped his membership at two of these clubs after resigning from them in 2001: here.

Talking about New York City, about another presidential candidate …

By Julia Manchester in the USA, 02/14/2020 06:09 PM EST:

De Blasio endorses Sanders for president

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially threw his support behind Sen. Bernie Sanders‘s (Independent-Vermont) presidential campaign on Friday, arguing that Sanders is the candidate to take down President Trump in November.

“I am standing with Bernie because he stands with working families, and always has,” de Blasio, a former 2020 presidential contender, said in a statement released by Sanders‘s campaign.

“New Yorkers know all too well the damage caused by Donald Trump’s xenophobia, bigotry and recklessness, and Bernie is the candidate to take him on and take him down,” he continued. …

De Blasio endorsed Hillary Clinton over Sanders in 2016,

De Blasio managed Ms Clinton’s Senate campaign in 2000.

despite sharing a number of Sanders’s progressive stances.

The mayor dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary in September, saying he would continue to focus on the needs of the working class.

So, the mayor of New York City differs from the main corporate medium in his city, the New York Times.