The Central American migration force is gaining additional followers as they continue their march toward the southern U.S. border. In an effort to stop a political and diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Mexico, outgoing Mexican President Pena Nieto offered assistance and asylum for the migrants to remain in Mexico. The growing swarm declined the offer… the looming crisis grows.  [PBS Video Report Here]

ARRIAGA, Mexico (AP) — Several thousand Central American migrants turned down a Mexican offer of benefits if they applied for refugee status and stayed in the country’s two southernmost states, vowing to set out before dawn Saturday to continue their long trek toward the U.S. border.

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When discussing or reviewing trade deals, particularly NAFTA, it is important to remember two baselines: (1) The trade reset is President Trump’s personal legacy initiative; it’s personal – ignore media banter – it’s personal; like, the most important thing he ever thinks about. Always. 24/7. (2) President Trump has no multinational corporations or financial interests with leverage/influence over his decision-making.

There are trillions at stake.

We begin:

“We are already looking at all the issues. We might close this, not in a matter of hours, but these days. We still have next week,” Jesus Seade, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters.

Here’s where it becomes important to note that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has twice asked Jesus Seade to remain AFTER hours when all other trade officials have concluded discussions. Closed-door conversations between Lighthizer and Seade; and no-one else. [Refer back to the two Trump baselines again]
Next, before reviewing the comments and presentations of the media regarding the U.S. Mexico NAFTA status; again reference the team approach, and the division of responsibility. Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is meeting with the twitchy Chinese delegation – again, their arrival is not a matter of scheduling happenstance; it is directly related to the ongoing 301 hearings that began two-days-ago, Monday.
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A very confident Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears on CNBC for a wide-ranging interview on current economic subjects. Within the discussion [14:00] Secretary Mnuchin affirms the U.S. economy is nowhere near “full employment”; an economic reality which highlights how much labor statistics were manipulated by political ideologues the prior administration(s).

Additionally, Secretary Mnuchin discusses the administrations’ focus on ‘reciprocal trade deals’ as the cornerstone of new trade constructs. This is a seismic shift in U.S. trade position. The secretary replaces the word “globalism” with a more nuanced “world-wide”; and “economic patriotism/nationalism” is replace with the word “territorial”.

Also worth noting is the larger dynamic of “intellectual property” (vis-a-vis China) and how the inherent Trump policies therein overlay trade positions between the U.S. and China. As we have previously mentioned the USTR Lighthizer 301 investigation into China could be exponentially more significant than Steel and Aluminum tariffs. Secretary Mnuchin confirms this aspect albeit with a measure of necessary opaqueness.

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Before the Cedar Rapids MAGA rally, President Trump visited Kirkwood Community College for a speech on agricultural innovation with governor Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

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[…]  In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control had thought that measles were eliminated in the US, but starting in 2008, cases began to climb. In 2014, the number of cases exploded to over 600, more than all reported cases between 2009 and 2013. The CDC also reported that cases reached a 20-year high in 2014.

The CDC determined that the number of cases grew in the US due to an influx of foreign immigrants.

There is no treatment for measles once it is contracted. Patients should stay hydrated as they ride the illness out. Authorities say the only prevention is widespread vaccination. (link)

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The willful blindness of the U.S. media is becoming a parody unto itself.

The outbreak of the Measles virus is gaining attention as medical reports begin to accumulate by the day. Yet, no-one in the legacy media claims to be able to see the similarity to the Enterovirus D-68 outbreaks.
So, again, let’s look at outbreak maps and compare:

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If you are willing to accept the world as it is, rather than as you might wish it to be, the answer is obvious.

♦  Tens of thousands of non-inoculated Mexican/South American children, and their families, have been using Obama’s open border policy to swarm into the United States.
♦  These kids/families, each with 90% no-show rates for the very first immigration hearing, then join public schools and daycare centers without consequence.  After all, there is a three year backlog of cases to find.
♦  Then, not coincidentally, a big surprise – Enterovirus and Measles outbreaks occur almost immediately along a pattern of immigration flow.

And the media is shocked, SHOCKED.
Reminder – […]  However, for our research hypothesis, more relevant than the CDC claim it has not found a link – is the admission the immigrant children were not known to have been tested for the resistant or dormant virus. (more…)

Neil Munro of The Daily Caller has an outline today exploring the EV-D68 virus against the backdrop of an increase to nine reported child deaths as a result of the virus spread: “Obama’s Border Policy Fueled Epidemic, Evidence Shows“.

One of the key takeaways from the Munro article is the unwillingness of CDC personnel to historically trace the source of the virus:

[…]  “In the current outbreak, there is one major group/clade which contains the vast majority of viruses, a minor group/clade that is related to the major group, and an outlier group/clade that has only a few viruses in it,” the CDC replied.

That’s critical information, because viral epidemics are usually powered by one new variety of a familiar virus. For example, the annual flu epidemics usually consist of a new mutation of an older flu virus. Because it is new, it bypasses immune responses that people acquired during prior flu waves, and then quickly jumps from person to person across the United States.

If confirmed, the presence of many strains would be further evidence that a population movement triggered the outbreaks, said Eden Wells, an assistant epidemiology professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

[…] When CDC officials were asked by TheDC to explain this multi-city, multi-strain anomaly, they waffled: “There is no evidence that unaccompanied children brought EV-D68 to the United States; we are not aware of any of these children testing positive for the virus,” Oberste replied. (more…)

5-Month-Old Lancen Kendall of Phoenix Arizona becomes the seventh child to die as a result of Enterovirus D68 since mid-August.

Arizona – […]   Lancen Kendall, is one of 24 cases statewide that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is testing for the deadly D68 strain.

Lancen’s parents say he showed no signs or symptoms that he was sick and that he just didn’t wake up from a nap earlier this month. He was rushed to Banner Thunderbird Medical Center and, five days later, pronounced brain dead.

“The lack of warning is the scariest part to me. We didn’t know he was sick,” said his father, Kevin Kendall.

The death of their 5-month-old is still an impossible scenario for the couple. Their son always had a beaming smile and appeared healthy, they say, but doctors determined he was dying from a strain of the enterovirus.

“It’s kind of terrifying that it literally came out of nowhere,” said his mother, Kathleen Kendall.  (link)

Lancen’s death in Arizona follows the deaths of children in Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Illinois, Missouri and a severe case in Alabama. (more…)

The True Story Of Enterovirus D68 is Not A Story of Surprise

Back in July of 2014 we outlined how the “surprise influx” of Unaccompanied Alien Children from Central America was not in actuality “a surprise”.  We knew it was not a surprise because the Obama Administration was specifically pre-planning for an influx a full seven months before the story began to reach the headlines:

On January 29th of this year, the federal government posted an advertisement seeking bids for a vendor contract to handle “Unaccompanied Alien Children“.
Not just any contract mind you, but a very specific contract – for a very specific number of unaccompanied minors: 65,000.

Obviously the key take-away was:  How could DHS and HHS claim a surprise when they were specifically looking for contractors to handle a very specific number of UAC’s seven month earlier?

Immediately we knew a few things.  First, we knew it wasn’t a surprise.  Second, we know this administration never lets a crisis go to waste.   The UAC crisis was soon framed as a ‘humanitarian crisis’ to position a more favorable outcome for comprehensive immigration reform.  It almost worked.
Almost. (more…)