Featured
Manhattan federal court buildings requiring double masking

Anyone entering Manhattan federal court buildings will now be required to wear two masks or a KN95 or N95 mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The order is part of the Southern District of New York’s new phased reopening plan.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently advised that the public double mask amid the spread of more contagious variants of the virus.
“You are required to wear either: (i) one disposable mask underneath a cloth
mask with the edges of the inner mask pushed against your face; or (ii) a properly-fitted, FDA-authorized KN95 (or N95) mask in all public areas of the courthouse (including hallways, public counters, elevators and courtrooms.),” the order states.
“You must also wear a mask in all shared space/common areas where more than one person is assigned to work unless an SDNY staff member has granted you permission to remove your mask. You must also wear masks any time you are interacting with any other person(s) regardless of social distancing.”
For months, the Manhattan courts have been operating mostly remotely amid the pandemic. Currently, SDNY is in its first phase of reopening, with some office staff back in the courts. The courthouses still remain closed to the public.
“As the first wave of the pandemic recedes, we need to reopen our doors to the public and move toward a restoration of the full range of services that courts provide,” SDNY Chief Judge Colleen McMahon wrote of the new plan. “We are committed to doing this in a way that provides maximum safety to those who work in our courthouses and those who visit them. We will be guided by the best possible scientific and medical advice. That is why we will reopen gradually, as conditions in the eight counties that make up the Southern
District permit.”

Featured
Shanghai: China’s Potemkin Village

Following a recent outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has imposed a month-long draconian lockdown on the residents of Shanghai. The CCP has used the outbreak to persecute its own citizens, including through forced evictions and quarantines, and placing alarms on doors to prevent COVID-19 people from leaving their homes. The harsh measures have resulted in food and healthcare shortages and separation of families.
But of course, we wouldn’t know that by reading the CCP-run press readily available in the United States. Instead of presenting the facts, the CCP engages in a comprehensive propaganda campaign that props up Shanghai as a Chinese Potemkin village. The CCP media asserts that China’s actions in Shanghai are benevolent and wise, while Western criticism is a product of malice. Chinese state-run media also insists that the Shanghai lockdown promotes economic stability in China and the world.
Claim 1: China Has the Best Policy for Combating COVID-19
The CCP media portray the Shanghai lockdown as the best and ideal policy. As cited by a XinhuaNet editorial, “China’s dynamic zero-COVID approach” is “the best option to save lives,” according to a “Rwandan researcher and publisher,” “…a miracle for us to learn,” according to a Kenyan scholar, and “a very ideal response,” according to Ethiopia’s National COVID-19 Response Task Force Coordinator. According to CCP media, Chinese citizens have greeted the Shanghai lockdown warmly, even with “[a] mixed sense of intensity, unity and hopefulness,” according to China Daily.
Claim 2: The West Hypocritically Defames China
The CCP press also accuses the West of lying about the Shanghai lockdown, and using COVID policies for nefarious ends. According to XinhuaNet, “Shanghai…has never imposed what Western media described as a ‘lockdown.’” Other CCP editorials actually accuse the West of malice. One Global Times editorial claims that the lockdown “has been deliberately exaggerated by the West.” Another Global Times editorial asserts that the Western approach of “coexisting with the virus” amounts to a way “…to drive out a large number of the vulnerable people with low immunity,” and a form of “cruel social Darwinism.”
Claim 3: China’s COVID Policies Result in an Economic Windfall to China and the World
The CCP also portrays the lockdown as necessary to achieve great economic growth in China and beyond. One Global Times editorial, while conceding that the lockdown amounted to a “sealing-off,” it is “a temporary measure to better resume work and production and to make the economy and society function more effectively. Its effectiveness has been proven.” According to another Global Times editorial, China’s policy is “widely considered to be the best strategy…to both contain the epidemic and ensure stable economic development.”
In an Orwellian fashion, Chinese press claims that China is solving, not causing, the world’s economic problems. According to XinhuaNet, “China has played a decisive role in stabilizing the global economy and resuming the supply chain disrupted by COVID-19.” Citing a Bloomberg article, the same XinhuaNet editorial claims that China “has prevented a huge number of deaths at home and ensured that everything from iPhones and Teslas to fertilizer and car parts continues to flow to the rest of the world.” Chinese citizens, of course, are collateral damage: Ji Qiwei, vice-general manager of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, stated that “The domestic market may be impacted a little by the COVID-19 outbreak this year, but our export market will continue to see strong growth,” according to China Daily.
While the world continues to suffer economic and human damage as a result of COVID-19, China continues to revise history regarding its role. Through its propaganda in its English publications of Xinhua, China Daily, and Global Times, China seeks to portray itself as a benevolent force in the fight against the virus.
You can follow Steve Postal on Twitter @HebraicMosaic
-
Politics2 days ago
Top CA Democratic Party Leader Resigns Amid Corruption Probe
-
Elections6 days ago
BREAKING: Clinton herself ‘agreed’ to leak Trump-Russia allegations to press
-
Politics6 days ago
NBC News finally reports: ‘Hunter Biden hard drives shows firm took in $11 million…spent it fast’
-
education3 days ago
Original National School Boards Association letter asked Biden to deploy National Guard and Military Police