Global News: October 2019 Archives

Portugal Mayor Supports Recriminalizing Public Drug Use - Filter

Reality intrudes upon ideological fantasy:

"On September 30, Rui Moreira, the mayor of Porto, contradicted his past pro-harm reduction positions, like the ones made at the 2019 Harm Reduction International conference in his own city, when he endorsed reintroducing criminal penalties for drug use in public spaces during a municipal assembly meeting.

"Drug decriminalization 'is not possible,' he said in the meeting, adding that such policies have "consented" to illegal drug trafficking. The mayor expressed he is 'a little tired of hearing just about the dignity' of people who use drugs, adding that the policy of decriminalization 'simply does not protect the overwhelming majority of the population.' To address this problem that he says is 'everywhere,' Rureira is advocating for the installation of over 100 new video surveillance cameras to monitor public streets in an attempt to clamp down on drug use."

How China is building financial leverage over all Americans - Josh Rogin

"But did you know that millions of Americans are currently - often unwittingly - betting their financial futures on the future success of the Chinese government's strategy? Without much oversight or consideration of the risks, Wall Street institutions are steering trillions of American investors' dollars toward Chinese companies that are complicit in China's military expansion and gross human rights abuses.

"Congress is now making an effort to force these Wall Street firms to stop exposing American investors' financial futures to Chinese companies that are not only beholden to the Chinese Communist Party but also in many cases directly involved in repression. The Chinese government is hoping Americans don't realize what's going on until it's too late.

"In August, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., wrote to Michael Kennedy, the chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), which administers the pensions of more than 5 million federal employees and military service members. They demanded he reverse the board's decision to steer over $50 billion in the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) toward China. "