Posts on Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas put the final kibosh on his disinformation governance board on Wednesday, after a review he ordered came back with a firm recommendation that the idea was a stinker.
The board had been on hold since May, when Mr. Mayorkas hit pause after a botched rollout that saw critics accusing him of Orwellian attempts to silence people who had competing views on issues of the day.
Mr. Mayorkas had insisted that wasn’t his goal. But the pick of Nina Jankowicz, who had a history of spreading dodgy information, to lead the board, as well as revelations that the board had been trying to coordinate
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) voted for a coronavirus stimulus package that handed $75,000 to a social justice group his church founded. The group, the Martin Luther King Sr. Collaborative, is run by the church, which compensates Warnock $120,000, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The money flowing to the Martin Luther King Sr. Collaborative raises questions about whether Warnock personally benefited from the American Rescue Plan while taxpayers shouldered the $1.9 trillion price of the bill that likely fueled 40-year-high inflation. From 2016 to at least 2020, Warnock was the CEO of Martin Luther King Sr. Collaborative, which was founded by the Ebenezer Baptist Church,
On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” White House Senior Adviser for Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms responded to questions on how President Joe Biden’s student loan cancelation program will be paid for by stating that President Biden “has done a very in-depth analysis in looking at whether or not the country can afford to give this relief to borrowers across this country,” and has consulted with his economic advisers.
Host Jake Tapper asked, “Let me start with the fact that Wharton estimates that this plan is going to cost somewhere between 300 billion and 980 billion over ten years. What is the actual number, do you think, and
In his first press conference since winning Tuesday's Democrat primary in the Florida governor's race, Rep. Charlie Crist — the former Republican-turned Democrat — made it clear whose votes he did not want in November's general election.
When asked about his message for Floridians who support current GOP Governor Ron DeSantis and how he'd seek to win their vote in November, Crist didn't hesitate to disavow their support for his campaign.
"Those who support the governor should stay with him and vote for him and I don't want your vote," Crist bellowed. "If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there,"
The parents of a Marine killed in a suicide attack at Kabul airport last year say it is a 'slap in the face' every time a Biden administration official says the Afghan withdrawal was a success, and that more could have been done to protect their son.
Taylor Hoover, a 31-year-old Marine Corps staff sergeant from Utah, was one of the 13 U.S. personnel who died on August 26 last year when an Islamic State suicide bomber detonated his explosives.
It came towards the end of a chaotic mission to fly American civilians and Afghan allies out of Kabul after the Taliban had seized control of the country.
In the social hierarchy of prison inmates, mob bosses, bank robbers, and cop killers tend to get respect. But “short eyes,” those convicts who have committed crimes against children, especially sexual abuse, are hated, harassed, and abused. In schools, however, this group of detestable perverts rates a “meh.”
The numbers are stunning. A report prepared for the U.S. Department of Education in 2004 revealed that nearly 9.6% of students are victims of sexual abuse by school personnel, and these are just the reported cases.
Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation (SESAME), a nonprofit that works to stop childhood sexual abuse by teachers and other school employees, discloses that in 2015,
California is set to roll out its long-awaited ban on new gasoline cars on Thursday, which is part of its rule to have all new cars sold by 2035 to be electric only in an effort to fight climate change.
Governor Gavin Newsom first announced the ban in 2020 as a means to reduce the amount of smog-induced pollution in the air, which will improve the state's air quality that is the worst in the US.
The move will also make California the first in the world to mandate zero-emission vehicles on its roads -
The FBI deliberately dragged its feet on the Hunter Biden investigation and told agents not to look into the Hunter Biden laptop, according to new whistleblowers who spoke with Sen. Ron Johnson.
Johnson, R-Wisc., sent a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday bringing forth the new whistleblower claims.
'Recently, my office heard from individuals with knowledge of the FBI’s apparent corruption,' Johnson said.
The Noose Tightens on Putin
replies
Back in the days when George H.W. Bush resided in the White House, he told me rather cryptically that I would be getting an invitation to the White House. A few days later I had luncheon with his director of the CIA, Robert (Bob) Gates, one of the brightest lights that I have ever known in government. Bob wasted no time getting down to business. He told me of his concern that the Russians, who were friendly with us in those days, were not going to have enough time to implement their economic reforms. He also spoke of the Russians’ ardor to be recognized as part of the West.
How bad have things gotten in Democrat-controlled cities like New Orleans, New York City, Detroit, San Francisco, and Chicago? So bad that when you think of those cities, it’s not the good things about them, from culture to industry, beautiful shopping districts to stunning city parks, that come to mind.
Rather, what almost every American thinks of when such blue cities as those are brought up is of the bloodshed, crime, and heartbreak within them, the streams of blood flowing down their streets thanks to crime that would rival the French Revolution in terms of both volume of blood shed
Joe Biden made it official on Wednesday, confirming reports that he was going to “forgive” tens of thousands of dollars of student debt for federal borrowers, many of which are the most privileged and well-off in our society. As I wrote previously, I think the move is morally reprehensible, forcing an electrician who paid for their technical training to now pay for the gender studies degree of some far-left kook making $100K a year in an academic position.
For his part, Biden took to the podium to announce his move while taking a precious few questions. Those he did field received some of the most non-sensical answers of his presidency.
Justice Department officials assume they can't rely on what former President Donald Trump's lawyers say given Trump's volatility as a client.
That's according to The New York Times, which reported that department officials had been in communication with Trump's representatives for months while trying to recover hundreds of pages of government records that were improperly moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office.
The report cited Justice Department officials as saying they worked under the assumption that Trump's lawyers couldn't "speak with authority" for him because he could change his mind at the drop of a hat
Tensions are high in Israel, as it is felt that once again the most disastrous of deals, the Iran nuclear deal, is being rushed to conclusion, its timing coinciding with the uncertain political situation in Israel. Despite persistent warnings from Israel and the region’s moderate Arab countries, the deal’s signatories, the P5+1 — namely Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany — are insisting on hurtling into an agreement that in just a few years will legitimize the very nuclear activity that the deal is meant to be preventing. Moreover, with Iran all but having achieved nuclear capabilities, the Iran nuclear deal
Nobodyz Perfekt: 26 Baltimore Residents
Received Their 2020 Ballots in the Mail
Three Weeks Ago replies
Received Their 2020 Ballots in the Mail
Three Weeks Ago replies
According to Just The News, some voters in Baltimore received their mail-in ballots earlier this month. The bad news is that those ballots were for the 2020 election. On Aug. 5, 2022, a tray of undelivered ballots was discovered. To the post office’s credit, they were delivered to the homes in Southeast Baltimore on Aug. 6. Better late than… never?
Local TV station WMAR reached out to the Postal Service and got a response from a spokesperson acknowledging the SNAFU and stating in part:
We deeply regret the late delivery of these mailpieces. The Postal Service takes these issues very seriously and is working to help avoid issues like this
Morning Consult has reported five years’ worth of data from over 8.6 million participants that shows a trend of America’s registered voters moving steadily to the ideological right.
“The left is losing the battle for the minds of the American electorate, Morning Consult research shows, with voters decreasingly identifying as liberal in recent years,” writes Morning Consult political reporter Eli Yokley. “But that doesn’t mean the country is lurching to the right.”
Yokley then makes an effort to pretend the trend isn’t what it looks like: “Instead, an increase in the share of Americans who identify as moderate, or who are uncertain about where exactly they stand on the ideological spectrum,
"No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” That’s what it says right there in the Constitution. And yet, without any legislation, Joe Biden now promises to “cancel” up to $10,000 in student loans per borrower ($20,000 for Pell Grant borrowers), limited to those with annual incomes of less than $125,000.
Let’s start by pointing out that President Joe Biden isn’t “canceling” or “forgiving” any student loans. Those are preposterous euphemisms favored by Democrats and the media. The debt in question already exists, it has been lent and spent, and those who borrowed the money of their own volition
California is set to move closer to banning the sale of new cars running only on gasoline by 2035, a major step in the car-loving state’s fight against climate change. The expected embrace of the policy by the state’s Air Resources Board during a meeting scheduled for Thursday comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) set a target in 2020 for cleaning up California’s auto fleet. The proposed regulation would set strict deadlines for meeting that goal, forcing automakers to step up production of cleaner vehicles considerably, starting in 2026. The requirements would only speed forward from there, until only zero-emission
First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again Wednesday, suffering a rebound case of the coronavirus after taking the antiviral drug, Paxlovid. The East Wing said Wednesday afternoon that the first lady would return to isolation in Delaware. Dr. Biden's symptoms have not returned, Deputy Communications Director Kelsey Donohue said in a statement. The first lady initally tested positive for COVID during the Bidens' summer getaway to Kiawah Island, South Carolina on Tuesday, August 16. Dr. Biden started experiencing symptoms the day before. That Sunday, she had been spotted bike-riding with her husband and granddaughter Finnegan Biden on Kiawah Island beach and shopping with her daughter-in-law
Many White House staffers will likely be eligible for President Biden’s newly unveiled student-loan “forgiveness” plan, which will transfer up to $10,000 in student debt from individuals making less than $125,000 to the American public.
A White House report that detailed the pay of more than 470 staffers last month showed that roughly half of current White House employees make $90,000 or less per year, with the other half making more than $100,000. More than 300 staffers on the list earn less than the $125,000 threshold. It is not clear how many White House staffers have student-loan balances. One-in-five White House aides
The NYPD released a memo ordering cops not to “congregate” or take part in “unnecessary conversation” with each other — just weeks after Mayor Eric Adams chastised officers on the street for chatting on the job, The Post has learned
The order dated Tuesday marks a revision to the patrol guide for officers and supervisors — instructing them to ensure cops aren’t gathering together.
“Do not congregate, or engage in unnecessary conversation, with other members of the service while on post, absent police necessity,” the order states, addressing police officers. (Snip) “The order is unnecessary,” Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said. “Pretty soon there won’t be enough cops left to congregate
The euphoric headlines are everywhere this month:
“Democrats Enter the Fall Armed With Something New: Hope” (New York Times)“Democrats Are Starting to See a Path to Victory in November” (Vanity Fair)
“Jubilant Senate Democrats head home with momentum” (Washington Post)
Many in the media really, really want you to believe that the Democratic agenda led by President Biden is capturing the hearts and minds of voters. That what was supposed to be a red wave is now becoming a ripple, with the Blue Team instead poised to make gains in November.
President Joe Biden is set to announce student loan forgiveness of $10,000 — and perhaps more — for lower-income debtors on Wednesday, in a move that is unconstitutional, unfair, and dangerous for the stability of our economy and our democracy.
There is no doubt that some borrowers would benefit from student loan relief — especially young people, low earners, borrowers in the black community. It would help them avoid default, and perhaps allow some to enter the housing market.
Some of these debtors can truly be seen as victims of a system that urges young people to attend college when other paths might be better suited to their talents
Five more buses arrived in New York City from Texas on Wednesday, the most buses in one day to reach the Big Apple. The new buses are only the latest to make the trip — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent more than 1,000 migrants to New York since Aug. 5, his office has said. (Snip) Abbott called out Adams' "hypocrisy" in a Wednesday New York Post op-ed, saying the mayor "likes to pat himself on the back for welcoming migrants with open arms to his sanctuary city. That is, until he actually has to follow through on those lofty promises."
Sen. Joe Manchin has emerged as the nation’s most unpopular politician — even surpassing President Biden, whose approval rating is slumping, for the dubious distinction, according to a new poll.
Just 11% of registered voters view the West Virginia Democrat in a positive light, the NBC News poll released Tuesday found.
Meanwhile, roughly one-third of voters (34%) had negative feelings, making Manchin the most unpopular figure in the poll with a net negative rating of 23%.
Popular conservative Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was swatted last night at her home just after 1 AM in the morning.
“Swatting” is the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.
This is a dangerous prank used by the American left against their political opponents. It is very dangerous because it could lead to a violent confrontation if the police are not aware of the situation.
GOP House members demand Mayorkas answer
why he’s allowing illegals to use warrants
as ID on planes replies
why he’s allowing illegals to use warrants
as ID on planes replies
Two dozen House Republicans are demanding answers over what they call an “extremely troubling” TSA policy on allowing illegal immigrants to board planes using arrest warrants and related documents as identification.
On Monday, the group of GOP lawmakers led by Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting an explanation about why the illegal aliens have been permitted to use civil immigration arrest warrants and deportation orders as identifying documents despite their not being included on the list of acceptable forms of ID put out by the Transportation Security Administration.
“Freedom is on the line this November,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said on Tuesday night, urging Floridians to “put on the full armor of God” to fight the “destructive agenda of Joe Biden and his number one ally in Florida, Charlie Crist.”
DeSantis on Tuesday night addressed a crowd of supporters in Hialeah, as he has largely focused on school board races across the state in the time leading up to the primary. DeSantis endorsed over two dozen candidates who champion his pro-parents, pro-students school agenda — something Crist adamantly stands against.
However, the results show that DeSantis’s message is resonating with voters across the state,
‘End of Abundance’ -- President Macron
Warns of Public Unrest in France as Energy
Crisis Bites replies
Warns of Public Unrest in France as Energy
Crisis Bites replies
President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the French public may react poorly to what he calls the “end of abundance” in France and Europe, as multiple crises brought about largely by political management wreak havoc on the continent.
With a long line of political mismanagement finally coming to a head across the European continent, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has now said that his country faces what he calls the “end of abundance”, something he fears could disrupt the stability of his nation.
Macron’s warning comes amid growing political panic in neighbouring Germany, where many political bigwigs are now fearing that the country faces a future of riots and public upheaval
President Joe Biden is set to “forgive” up to $10,000 in federal student debt for those making under $125,000 annually, and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, transferring the cost of the loans to the American public, the White House announced Wednesday. Biden’s decision marks the first time a president has canceled federal student-loan debt in such a broad capacity, and comes months before the midterm elections. He had campaigned on canceling up to $10,000 per borrower during the presidential race, but there was no mention of an income cap.
Biden is also set to extend
The mountain bike rider Rab Wardell has died at the age of 37, just days after competing at, and winning, the Scottish MTB XC Championships. Scottish Cycling confirmed on Tuesday evening that Wardell had died in his sleep. Wardell had appeared on BBC Scotland’s The Nine programme on Monday evening to talk about his victory on Sunday.(Snip)Wardell’s partner, the track cyclist Katie Archibald, tweeted on Wednesday that he had suffered a “cardiac arrest” on Tuesday morning. “I think you’ve heard that Rab died yesterday morning,” wrote Archibald, “I still don’t understand what’s happened; if this is real; why he’d be taken now–so healthy and happy.
Ahead of another deadline on the restart of payments for America's $1.7 trillion in federal student loans, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a plan to cancel debt for a subset of Americans and continue to keep a pandemic-era pause on the repayments -- a sweeping move he has openly weighed in some form or another since his time as a candidate.
If you think that the Dems care about the real American who actually did the right thing, then you are wrong!
The AI startup erasing call center worker
accents: is it fighting bias – or perpetuating it? replies
accents: is it fighting bias – or perpetuating it? replies
Hi, good morning. I’m calling in from Bangalore, India.” I’m talking on speakerphone to a man with an obvious Indian accent. He pauses. “Now I have enabled the accent translation,” he says. It’s the same person, but he sounds completely different: loud and slightly nasal, impossible to distinguish from the accents of my friends in Brooklyn. Only after he had spoken a few more sentences did I notice a hint of the software changing his voice: it rendered the word “technology” with an unnatural cadence and stress on the wrong syllable. Still, it was hard not to be impressed–and disturbed.
The man calling me was a product manager from Sanas,
President Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, while extending the pause on federal student loan payments through the end of the year.
"In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023," Biden tweeted.
Biden is expected to give remarks on the plan Wednesday afternoon.
Whistleblower Says Twitter Lied to Musk
About Spam Bots, With Possible Implications
for Trial replies
About Spam Bots, With Possible Implications
for Trial replies
A whistleblower who served as Twitter’s security chief said in regulatory filings obtained by The Epoch Times that the social media company misled tech entrepreneur Elon Musk about the number of bots on the platform, with possible implications for the legal battle between the Tesla chief and Twitter.
Peiter Zatko, who has publicly come forward as the whistleblower, made a series of explosive allegations regarding Twitter’s cybersecurity policies in a disclosure filed in July with federal regulators (pdf), including the claim of Twitter “lying about bots to Elon Musk.”
Zatko’s disclosure alleges that Twitter uses an “opaque metric” called monetizable daily active users (mDAU), rather than an earlier metric of total monthly
U.S. President Biden marked Ukraine’s independence day Wednesday by hailing its resolve after six months of “relentless” attacks by Russian forces and said the Eastern European nation will be sovereign and prosperous for decades to come. Mr. Biden announced nearly $3 billion in weapons and equipment support for Ukraine ahead of festivities commemorating Ukraine’s declaration of independence on Aug. 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The money will help Ukraine upgrade its air defense against forces led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who invaded in late February after comments that seemed to deny Ukraine’s right to statehood. “Ukrainians have inspired the world with their extraordinary courage
A 13-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday in connection with the fatal beating of yellow cab driver Kutin Gyimah in Queens earlier this month.
The teen, who was charged with gang assault and theft of services, became the fourth suspect busted in the deadly Aug. 13 attack on the 52-year-old victim.
Police are still looking to charge another young female suspect. Gyimah, a married father of four, was ganged up on by a group of five assailants who hopped out of his taxi without paying in the Rockaways.
He chased them down on foot before he was attacked.
Austin Amos, 20, allegedly delivered the blow that caused the cabbie to fall to the ground
Elon Musk’s private jet flew from San Jose to San Francisco — a 35-mile flight that lasted a total of nine minutes, according to Twitter users who track the tech mogul’s movements.
The super-short flight across San Francisco Bay took place on May 6, but Twitter users widely shared the satellite map showing the plane’s flight path over the weekend, with many expressing outrage over the carbon footprint left behind by the head of an electric car company.
A group of independent German scientists found toxic components—mostly metallic—in all the COVID vaccine samples they analyzed, “without exception” using modern medical and physical measuring techniques.
The Working Group for COVID Vaccine Analysis says that some of the toxic elements found inside the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccine vials were not listed in the ingredient lists from the manufacturers.
The following metallic elements were found in the vaccines:
Alkali metals: caesium (Cs), potassium (K)
Alkaline earth metals: calcium (Ca), barium (Ba)
transition metals: cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), titanium (Ti)
Rare earth metals: cerium (Ce), gadolinium (Gd)
Mining group/metal: aluminum (Al)
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin delivered an emotional speech on Wednesday, touting her job performance and defending her right to have a private life after leaked videos showed the leader dancing and partying wildly.
“I am also human,” Finnish media quoted Marin as saying with a broken voice and red eyes. The 36-year-old politician insisted she has always been committed to her job serving the people of Finland. “This week has not been easy. It has been difficult. But I want to believe that people look at the work we do, not what we do in our free time.”
First, for those of you who haven’t read all of the previous columns in this space, a definition. What is Weaponized Governmental Failure?
Simply put, it’s the process by which urban socialist Democrats intentionally muck up the basic tasks of municipal governance and create such soul-crushing environments that middle-class taxpayers and voters decamp for the suburbs, thus leaving an electorate incapable of throwing off the political machine.
My theory is that Weaponized Governmental Failure, or WGF for short, was arrived upon serendipitously. At some point in the 1990s, Democrats noticed that some of their worst mayors — like Washington, D.C.’s Marion Barry — were simply unbeatable despite dismal performances.
Much has been written about Liz Cheney and her motivations for blowing up her congressional career over a seemingly psychotic obsession with Donald Trump. But there are aspects to the analyses that are missing the larger point that Cheney was not motivated by high principles and a quest to save our country. She was motivated by hatred, self-interest, and vengeance.
(Snip)
What Epstein and others who blindly believe that Cheney is motivated by upstanding morality and principles are missing is that Trump Derangement Syndrome, from which she clearly suffers, is a psychological illness. It has led to formerly sane, smart, respectable individuals flying off the handle into irrelevance
For our friends on the left, attitudes toward race have apparently come full circle. It wasn’t that long ago, less than a decade perhaps, that the mere suggestion of a major corporation openly discriminating against prospective candidates for scholarships and fellowships based on their race would have been denounced from every angle of the political spectrum.
If those being excluded from consideration were to have been limited to only white folks, there would have certainly been sympathizers with the idea from various leftists, but they wouldn’t have been brazen enough to put forth the notion publicly. And if it wasn’t only white folks whose candidacies were being barred, if non-white
In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden declared to the nation and world: “We are engaged anew in a great battle for freedom. A battle between democracy and autocracy.”
On her trip to Taiwan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi echoed Biden: “Today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy. America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and in the world remains iron-clad.”
But is this truly the world struggle America is in today?
Is this the great challenge and threat to the United States?
Social media companies were part of what Time magazine called “an extraordinary shadow effort” whose objective was to prevent Donald Trump from being reelected in 2020. Two years later, and surely emboldened by their success, they are back, their sights set on throwing the midterm elections to the Democrats.
There can be no doubt that social media is aligned with the left in a political cleansing of Republican candidates and voters. According to the Time article, The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election, “a well-funded cabal of powerful people” “successfully pressured
The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in Texas voted Monday to ban the teaching of critical race theory and not promote, require, or encourage the usage of pronouns not aligned with a student’s actual sex.
The 4-3 vote also implemented a strict process for reviewing library books and requires that students use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their actual sexes. Library materials must be posted online and readily available for review by parents and a strict oversight process has been put in place for choosing and approving books.
ISD policy further bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity until the fifth grade,
Hillary Clinton has said that staying married to a serial cheat is 'not for everybody', as she discusses courage and grit for her new TV series.
The former Secretary of State is seen in the trailer for Gutsy, which airs on Apple TV+ on September 9, traveling the country with her daughter, Chelsea, and speaking to inspiring women.
Among those they meet are Goldie Hawn, Kim Kardashian, Jane Goodall and Megan Thee Stallion.
One clip shows Clinton, 74, in conversation with Reverend Whittney Ijanaten, a UCLA chaplain and wedding officiant, who specializes in LGBTQ marriages.
In a major upset victory for President Joe Biden's party, New York Democratic official Pat Ryan narrowly beat Republican Marc Molinaro in a race that remained in a dead heat nearly until midnight on Wednesday.
Multiple outlets including the New York Times and NBC News called the race for Ryan with more than 95 percent of the votes counted - and less than 3,000 votes between the two candidates.
Ryan will now serve the remainder of former Democrat Rep. Antonio Delgado's term, until the end of the year.