House Launches Broad Probe into China’s Infiltration of U.S.

On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee announced the launch of a wide-ranging investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to infiltrate “every sector and community” in the U.S.

The probe, which has the stated objective to “thwart the CCP’s political and economic warfare campaign,” is being initiated with letters sent to nine different federal agencies requesting reports on what the agencies are doing to counter the communist regime’s efforts, along with how the agencies are coordinating their efforts with each other.

“Without firing a single bullet, the Chinese Communist Party is waging war against the U.S. by targeting, influencing, and infiltrating every economic sector and community in America,” Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) stated. “The lives and security of all Americans are affected. The Oversight Committee has a responsibility to ensure the federal government is taking every action necessary to protect Americans from the CCP’s ongoing political warfare.”

The sectors that the investigation will focus on include education, agriculture, critical infrastructure, research, energy, business, space, and technology. Examples of the CCP’s incursion into these sectors have been making headlines for decades. Here are some recent examples in each sector.

Education: Almost 150 U.S. K-12 schools have been linked to “Confucius Classrooms” which attempt to spread communist propaganda. In higher education, “Confucius Institutes” (which have now been rebranded but have the same communist goal) have popped up in dozens of American universities. In addition, the regime has given over $426 million to U.S. universities since 2011, which experts say has led to increasing influence behind closed doors.

Agriculture: Chinese companies have purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of American farmland, some of which are near U.S. military installations.

Infrastructure: The Chinese government is attempting to “covertly plant offensive malware inside U.S. critical infrastructure networks,” which is currently at “a scale greater than we’d seen before,” according to a report from FBI Director Christopher Wray in February.

Research and Technology: The CCP’s efforts to steal American scientific research and technology are well documented. Comer wrote to the National Science Foundation noting that the regime’s efforts to steal and influence research “takes a holistic approach and includes covert and legal means” and that it is attempting to weaponize “U.S.-backed research and technology for uses that are contrary to U.S. national security and competitiveness.”

Energy: In a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Comer writes that the CCP has “successfully pressured U.S. environmental players and industries into adopting initiatives that plainly benefit China at great costs to American businesses and consumers.”

Business: China’s influence over corporate America was illustrated quite clearly recently when a room full of U.S. corporate executives gave Chinese President Xi Jinping multiple standing ovations in his visit to the U.S. last November. Comer also noted the CCP’s efforts to launder money through America’s real estate and casino industries. “These activities allow the CCP to engage in corporate espionage, feed the fentanyl crisis in the U.S., influence our nation’s schools and culture, and otherwise advance destructive goals on American soil,” he wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Space: As previously reported, the regime is currently pursuing “a ‘space coercion’ strategy that includes the use of both ground-based missiles ‘capable of hitting satellites orbiting at all altitudes,’ as well as orbital missiles — including nuclear warheads.” Comer argued in a letter to NASA that China’s space program should be “properly understood for what it is: an arm of its military, the People’s Liberation Army.”

Many other threats to the U.S. posed by the CCP abound, such as a massive influx of Chinese nationals of military age being apprehended at the southern border, balloon surveillance, the discovery of CCP “police stations” in U.S. cities, and the discovery of a suspicious biolab with ties to China in California. In a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Comer also voiced concern over the CCP engaging in “chemical warfare seeking to poison America with fentanyl, and how the Drug Enforcement Agency is responding.” Reports indicate that “nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl come from China.”

In a press release announcing the House investigation, Comer concluded, “Actions taken by the Committee today are just the beginning and I look forward to full cooperation from agencies as we work to thwart China’s efforts to influence and infiltrate the United States of America.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, ChinaAid Founder and President of Bob Fu stated, “It is indeed way overdue for the American people and government across the political spectrum to pay close attention and take an all of society approach to address the serious threat of the CCP’s well designed, decades in the making, comprehensive infiltration effort with unlimited warfare strategy.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

‘A Great and Effective Door of Opportunity’: Perkins Visits Israel to Meet with Key Leaders

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins touched down in Israel on Saturday, March 9 to meet with Israeli leaders and assure them of American Christians’ support. The next day, Perkins visited Re’im, the site of the October 7 attack where, as Perkins described it, “over 300 people were brutally murdered, tortured, raped, and abducted by both members of the Hamas terrorist army and civilians from Gaza who were the second wave that came in behind the fighters.” Perkins reported that Hamas’s October 7 attack “was not designed to be terrorist strikes, but an invasion and occupation of the various kibbutz that were attacked.”

While visiting Re’im, Perkins told The Washington Stand, “We prayed and repented for America’s complicit role through the funding of Hamas through the UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and through the billions released to Iran, which is the puppet master behind Hamas and the other rogue actors in the region.”

Perkins and his team also visited Kibbutz Be’eri, where at least 130 people were killed by Hamas insurgents on October 7. “We walked among the bullet-pocked houses where grenades were tossed into houses by terrorists and RPGs were fired at houses in an attempt to breach the reinforced walls of the safe rooms where families were hiding,” Perkins recounted. “When they could not get the families out of the safe rooms, they set the house on fire. When the smoke forced the families to open the bulletproof windows of the safe room for air, they waited outside the widows to toss in grenades.” Hamas forces also invaded the nearby city of Ofakim, which Perkins visited. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cleared the city of Hamas soldiers on October 8.

On Monday, Perkins stopped in Samaria, along with mayor Yossi Dagan and Israeli parliamentarian Ohad Tal. Perkins explained, “Approximately 70% of what we read in the Bible took place in Samaria and Judea. This includes Bethlehem, Hebron, Shiloh, Schechem, and so many other places. It is also what is deceptively called the West Bank, as if it were not part of Israel.” He added, “We stood on the mountains of Samaria and looked down on Tel Aviv, showing how impossible it would be to defend Israel under the ‘two-state’ solution that is being promoted that would give the heart of Israel over to the Palestinians.”

“We stood on the Mount of Blessing and prayed for God’s peace and blessing upon Israel, recognizing that the blessing comes from God when we obey His word and walk in His ways,” Perkins recalled. “We also prayed for America to walk according to His word and ways.”

Perkins also met with Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, who is now serving as the country’s Minister of Strategic Affairs. Perkins recounted, “In our meeting with Dermer, his opening question posed to me, but directed at the group in a lighthearted way, was, ‘You’re not going wobbly on us, are you?’ I assured him we were not going wobbly.”

Next, Perkins sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “discussed the situation and made clear the resolve of Israel to protect itself and that victory must be complete, which is the elimination of Hamas.” Perkins said that Netanyahu “expressed appreciation for America’s support, past and present. Still, under the present political circumstances, which was not spoken about but understood, he asked for Christians in America to stand with Israel.” Afterwards, the FRC president prayed over the Israeli prime minister and attended a late-night worship service. As Perkins described it, “Everywhere we went, including at that worship service, people were so thankful for us coming to Israel at this time.”

After an interview with Dan Cohen of NewsMax, Perkins recalled that “a small crowd had gathered to watch, and one very elderly lady came up to me with tears in her eyes and said in broken English, ‘Thank you, thank you for coming to Israel,’ and she began weeping, ‘We need you to be with us.’” He continued, “There is clearly a sense that Israel, apart from America, is standing alone, and with President Biden’s statements, America looks wobbly. In one kibbutz, it was said by one person that many members of the community had come there to escape persecution elsewhere and that Israel had been the safe haven they had fled to — what now?”

His delegation also visited the site of the 1929 Hebron massacre, where nearly 70 Jews were killed by Palestinian Arabs before being evacuated by the British authorities. Perkins explained that the Hebron massacre, “while not in scope but in brutality, was a mirror of October 7.” He added, “Hebron, like Bethlehem, is a Palestinian area with just a small enclave of Jews living there that the media refers to as ‘settlers.’”

Perkins also met with Yossi Fuchs, Netanyahu’s chief cabinet secretary. “[A]gain,” recounted Perkins, “the focus was on Israel’s need for the church to be visible and vocal in their support of Israel because the threat is great.”

On the team’s final day in Israel, they visited with Holocaust survivors and a senior citizen choir at a Jewish Agency-sponsored retirement community. “That joy-filled event was followed by a very somber visit with families of hostages at the hostage headquarters in Tel Aviv,” Perkins recalled. “It was encouraging for both the families and for us that after hearing their ongoing grief and struggle, we prayed for them and hugged them. The impact was visible.”

Perkins concluded:

“Every generation has its test of how it will treat the Jewish people. While not all have persecuted this population, which represents less than half of a percent of the world’s population today, many remained silent. October 7 was preceded by growing antisemitism, and it has pulled back the curtain on even more, right here in America. What will our generation do? Ignore it until the horrifying evidence of the consequences of our silence can no longer be denied, or will we stand against it and heed the promise and warning of Genesis 12? There is a great and effective door of opportunity opening to the church to show love in a tangible way to the Jewish state of Israel by standing with them in their hour of need.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Did Anti-white, DEI Bias Steal a State Final Spot From a White Basketball Team?

Some say it was the worst call they’ve ever seen in high-school basketball.

The scene was the recent NJSIAA Group 2 state semifinal game between New Jersey team Camden — a powerhouse that hadn’t lost to another NJ public-school squad in five years — and underdog Manasquan. Down 46-45 after Camden player Alijah Curry sank a couple of free throws, Manasquan drove down the floor with 5.8 seconds left on the clock. One of its players took a long shot, which bounced off the rim — into the waiting hand of teammate Griffin Linstra, who laid the ball up through the hoop, releasing it with 0.6 seconds left on the clock.

The Central Regional High School gymnasium erupted in celebration, with Linstra’s shot being called good. But then it happened.

A Camden coach ran over and tapped one of the exiting officials, Kevin Torres, on the shoulder, and “a group of Camden coaches pleaded for the referees to meet,” reported NJ.com. The refs then consulted for a short time — and overturned the call. Incredulity among sober observers was the result.

Then there was a secondary result: accusations of anti-white bias.

You see, Camden appears an entirely black team, while Manasquan appears entirely white.

Know that subsequent video review left no question that the call was errant. “In an email to the NJSIAA [New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association], cited in the legal papers, Torres admitted his call was wrong after seeing videos of the play,” NJ.com also writes. The NJSIAA made the same admission and issued an apology.

So the whole situation was most odd, indeed. As NJ.com further related, the “sequence of events” that led to the reversed call “is not standard…,” and a veteran official “told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday morning, ‘That [ref group] conversation never should have happened.’”

Manasquan appealed the decision and even filed a lawsuit to delay the championship game, scheduled for four days later (3/9), until the matter could be settled. But despite its apology, the NJSIAA “pointed to its bylaws that say once the referees leave the court after a game, the final score is official and cannot be appealed,” NJ.com tells us. As for the lawsuit, a judge rejected Manasquan’s request.

The CBS News segment below includes the video evidence of the blown (biased?) call.

This may not be popular, but I understand NJSIAA’s decision. Rules are rules, and if they dictate that a game’s outcome is to be considered irreversible once the referees depart, this standard must be followed. The rules can be changed if they’re deemed insufficient, of course. But our society’s increasing disregard for rules and laws (as reflected in the ignoring of 2020-election ballot standards) is a sign of civilizational decline. I also accept the judge’s ruling: It’s not a good idea having courts make any and all societal decisions from the monumental to the mundane.

What I don’t accept is the racial double standard apparent here. Good luck finding mainstream media that even allude to it; anti-white prejudice is their Voldemort of biases. However, the blogosphere addressed it, as did Internet commenters.

“A DEI call if there ever was one,” wrote a YouTube poster here. (Another respondent then asked him what DEI was, proving that Rip Van Winkle wasn’t alone in being able to sleep 20 years straight.)

“Can’t let the white kids win,” opined a tweeter on X.

“-2pts for white privilege,” stated another.

And while we can’t read minds, five questions do suggest themselves. Were the situation reversed:

  1. Would the Manasquan coaches have similarly importuned the refs to reverse their call?
  2. If they had, would the officials have likewise complied?
  3. If so, would the story’s racial aspect be ignored by media?
  4. Would the NJSIAA have still adhered to their no-reversal ex post facto rule?
  5. Would the judge still have rejected an appeal?

My answers:

  1. This would’ve been less likely.
  2. No, the probability is vanishingly low.
  3. Not a chance.
  4. Probably, but it’s not a given.
  5. Most likely.

It’s hard to imagine the refs reversing such a call for the white team. And had they, the media would’ve made a federal case out of it, screaming “Racism!” all the way. The pressure on the NJSIAA would’ve consequently been extreme, too, which is why we can’t be sure they would’ve taken the same principled rules stance.

To be clear, I think it’s unlikely the refs were purposely biased. In all probability, however, politically correct conditioning and social pressure — fashionable prejudice — did cloud their judgment. (The Left calls this “unconscious bias.”) Remember that many today are programmed to respond to and be intimidated by black grievance; no one wants to be that guy who robs a dominant black team of a title with a possibly bad call (that’s a career-ender). I also suspect that the errant decision reflects our time’s emotionalism, where principle is subordinated to feelings.

After all, what could the Camden coaches have said when pleading their case that was so convincing? “The shot was after the buzzer!”? That they claimed to have seen it differently than the refs is unsurprising and is neither proof nor even an argument. I mean, if non-official feedback matters, why didn’t the refs then just take a poll of all the players and spectators present?

Of course, with all our country’s problems, this is small potatoes. Significant, however, is what this incident may be an example of — that very real phenomenon called “black privilege” (see Fani Willis et al.),

Oh, Camden would go on to “win” the championship game. It’s a victory that should forever be accompanied by history’s biggest asterisk.

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on X (formerly Twitter), MeWe or Gettr or log on to SelwynDuke.com

©2024. Selwyn Duke. All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Firm Tied To China’s Military Industrial Complex Plans To Roll Out Massive Battery Chemical Plants In U.S.

The Chinese manufacturer of chemicals for electric vehicle batteries planning to build two U.S. factories has long-standing ties to China’s military industrial complex, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Capchem Technology USA, the wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Shenzhen Capchem Technology (Capchem), plans to build factories in both Ohio and Louisiana that would produce components for electric vehicle batteries. Chinese government documents reveal the Chinese chemical giant was selected over a decade ago to conduct aerospace research for China’s military industrial complex as part of a program overseen by a blacklisted Chinese government agency.

Corporate reports show the company, as recently as 2023, received payments from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology — a government agency spearheading the Chinese government’s so-called “Military-Civil Fusion” efforts.

“This network of [Chinese Communist Party] military-linked companies proliferating across the United States is a great example of why blind economic engagement with China is a national security threat,” Bryan Burack, senior policy advisor for China and the Indo-Pacific at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, told the DCNF.

The DCNF’s investigation is based, in part, on information provided by the Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action.

Capchem specializes in manufacturing chemicals for electric vehicle batteries, and for years, the firm has advertised its products’ military uses in annual reports and online. Indeed, until very recently, the firm’s website boldly stated its products were used in “high-end military equipment.”

Yet, Capchem denied supplying the Chinese military, and the reference to “high-end military equipment” was scrubbed from the firm’s website within 24 hours of the DCNF reaching out for comment.

Capchem “does not have products used by Chinese military, or any other military organizations,” a spokesperson told the DCNF.

“When the English/U.S. website was developed, the ‘military’ reference was inadvertently included,” the spokesperson said. “You brought it to the company’s attention, and it was removed just as it had been in the Chinese version in 2020.”

However, the military reference also appeared on Capchem’s Chinese-language website when the DCNF reached out for comment. The reference on Capchem’s Chinese-language site appears to have been removed around the same time as their English-language was being scrubbed.

Capchem business filings and corporate announcements from 2023, along with Chinese financial service research reports from as recent as January 2024, also note the firm’s products had military applications.

‘Military-Civil Fusion’

Capchem’s work with China’s military industrial complex extends back to at least 2012. That year, the Guangdong province Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced Capchem was one of 70 companies selected to serve as a “Guangdong Provincial National Defense Science And Technology Industry Military-Civil Fusion Superior Work Unit.”

The work unit focused on “critical components within the aerospace field,” including “space flight-grade, high-reliability and core electronic components, high-end general chips, base software, etcetera,” the 2012 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announcement reads.

The project was overseen by China’s Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is “under direct supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,” and responsible for “nuclear weapons, aerospace technology, aviation, armament, watercraft and electronic industries,” according to China’s State Council.

China’s “Military-Civil Fusion strategy supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army by ensuring it can acquire advanced technologies and expertise developed by PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities,” according to the U.S. Defense Department.

Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi recently sent a letter to the Treasury and Defense departments noting the U.S. government’s blacklist of Chinese military companies extends to companies working with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

“Among other qualifying considerations, a company is a ‘military civil fusion contributor’ if such company is ‘affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, including research partnerships and projects,’” the lawmakers wrote in January 2024. “The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was formed in 2008 and is key to the PRC’s military-civil fusion strategy.”

Capchem’s annual reports show the firm has received millions of dollars in payments from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology since 2017. The ministry paid the firm approximately $1.5 million for an “Industrial Foundation Project” in 2017, according to Capchem’s annual report for that year.

Capchem’s most recent annual report shows the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had a subsidy of just under $1 million earmarked for the firm at the end of the 2023 mid-term reporting period.

Despite this, Capchem initially denied getting any “money/subsidies/donations from the Chinese government” in an email to the DCNF, though a spokesperson did say the firm had received “economic development tax incentives.”

However, the spokesperson changed their tune when the DCNF pointed to the firm’s own annual reports.

“The last time the company received any Chinese government subsidies besides standard incentives or awards provided for all eligible companies was between 2016 and 2018,” the spokesperson said. “Any reference to subsidies in company reports apply to those received during that time. The company has received no such subsidies since 2018.”

Capchem’s corporate reports list $26 million in subsidies from various Chinese government entities. The company’s 2023 mid-term report lists roughly $10 million worth of new government subsidies in a section labeled “Programs Involving Government Subsidies.”

Heritage’s Burack said Capchem has been “subsidized by the Chinese government” and “manufactures for China’s military.”

“There’s no question who these companies really work for,” Burack said. “There’s no such thing as a private Chinese company.”

‘Aerospace And Military Industries’

Capchem has long advertised the dual military-civilian use for its products. For instance, Capchem’s 2009 annual report touted how the company’s products are used in “aerospace and military industries.”

The vice president of Capchem’s research institute, Liu Zhongbo, discussed the military application of the company’s sodium-ion batteries at a July 2023 battery forum in Jiangsu province.

“Lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries are representative of new battery types serving as an important foundation for supporting the wide application of new energy sources in the domains of electricity, transportation, communication, military, etcetera,” Liu said during the event, according to Capchem’s website.

“In the future, Capchem will closely follow the national strategy to support the mass production of sodium-ion batteries,” Liu said.

More recently, a January 2024 research report from Chinese financial service firm Huaan Securities identified Capchem’s “fluorinated polyimide” product as being used in the nuclear industry and by the military, and the firm’s “perfluoropolyether oil” product’s use in aerospace landing gear, rudders and aircraft control mechanisms.

‘Security Risks’

Capchem’s plans to expand their U.S. footprint come as federal and state officials move to prohibit the ownership of U.S. land by Chinese entities. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson recently issued an executive order in January 2024 banning entities tied to China from purchasing agricultural land within 10 miles of any “critical military facilities” in the state.

Capchem USA is planning on building an approximately $120 million factory in Lawrence County, Ohio, Capchem announced in June 2023. County commissioners recently approved a 50% tax abatement for Capchem USA’s facility, the Herald Dispatch reported. The facility will serve as a “production facility for the manufacturing of battery chemicals,” according to Capchem.

Capchem USA is also considering a $350 million plant in Louisiana, according to Louisiana Economic Development, a government agency.

Ohio Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup’s congressional district includes Lawrence County. Barbara Boland, Wenstrup’s press secretary, told the DCNF that the congressman has “warned of the potential security risks to our supply chains, intellectual property and national security posed by Chinese-owned companies operating in the U.S.”

“Congressman Wenstrup recommends local governments and those pursuing economic development opportunities to fully vet any companies seeking to establish a footprint in their communities,” Boland said.

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter, political journalist, and China watcher. Twitter: @LenczyckiPhilip.

RELATED ARTICLE: EXCLUSIVE: Republican Attorney General Urges Biden Admin To Restrict Foreign Land Ownership Near Major Military Base

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Biden’s 2025 Budget Ignores the Border Crisis

Last week, the Biden Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget proposal. Unsurprisingly, the $7.3 trillion budget maintains status quo on the border, allocating billions in taxpayer dollars towards funding an open-borders, anti-enforcement agenda.

Of the $107.9 billion in proposed spending for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), $19.8 billion is allocated to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), $9.7 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and $6.8 billion for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). However, instead of proposing any meaningful changes to secure our borders, the President chose to use the budget request to reinforce his failed policies and again call on Congress to enact a Senate border package that fails to reform our asylum system, end widespread abuse of parole, or stop the mass catch-and-release of illegal aliens.

A deeper dive into the funding proposal shows that the Biden Administration’s FY25 budget continues to focus on quickly processing and releasing illegal aliens into the country. The budget provides funding to hire 310 more “processing coordinators” and an additional 641 asylum and refugee officers, in part to support the unprecedented flow of illegal aliens claiming asylum when the vast majority are economic migrants.

In addition, $5 billion would be allocated to a new Southwest Border Contingency Fund to support surges at the border, a slush fund for Mayorkas, with very few details on how the funds would be spent. While ostensibly that fund is to help DHS respond to immigration surges along the southern border, in reality, it would serve as a replacement for the Shelter and Services Program by financially supporting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) facilitating illegal immigration. The budget request provides for tranches of the $4.7 billion fund to be made available at quarterly intervals, assuming that encounters at the southern border reach certain levels.

The creation of this $4.7 billion slush fund appears calculated to give the Biden administration as much flexibility as possible in spending taxpayer dollars while ensuring as little accountability as possible. With such broad guidelines as to the purposes for the money, the “contingency fund” would provide easy access to billions of taxpayer dollars for DHS Secretary Mayorkas to distribute as he sees fit. The first $1.4 billion would be released on January 1, 2025, three months into the fiscal year, if total encounters reach 165,000. Another $1.52 billion would be released on April 1, 2025, if total encounters reach 575,000. For context, illegal encounters through January 1 in FY23 reached over 715,000 and through April 1 reached 1.2 million. The third threshold represents a closer margin based on FY23 encounters – a 2.23 million encounter rate by July 1 as opposed to roughly 1.8 million in FY23. Even with a higher bar for the third batch of funding, though, the first two tranches, totaling nearly $3 billion, would almost certainly be dispersed.

In addition to the DHS slush fund, the President’s budget includes $652 million for an “emergency contingency fund” within Health and Human Services to handle the surge of unaccompanied alien children (UACs). The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), would be provided $9.3 billion, of which $5.5 billion would support the care and custody of UACs. This office would also use hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to support the resettlement of 125,000 new refugees from around the world as asylum seekers flood our borders.

Finally, for all of the billions in proposed spending, the President’s budget clearly conveys that removing and detaining illegal aliens is still not a priority. The proposed budget only proposes removing 125,000 aliens in FY25, a stark contrast from an average of over 400,000 per year in the first three years of the Trump Administration. Given that nearly 10 million have entered in the last three years, removing 125,000 each year would take 80 years to deport just those who entered under Biden’s watch.

The Biden administration’s failure to remove illegal aliens has also contributed to the explosion of the non-detained docket, which represents aliens who are in the country illegally, released into the interior and waiting for a court hearing. The President’s budget reveals that the non-detained docket has now exploded to over 6.3 million aliens. To make matters worse, many of the aliens on the non-detained docket have criminal backgrounds. A House Judiciary report released this January revealed there are 617,607 aliens on the non-detained docket – nearly 10 percent – who have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

In short, President Biden’s budget shows that he has no interest in securing the border, as he continues to advocate for harmful policies, refuses to take any executive action to end the crisis, and shifts blame to Congress for his own administration’s shortfalls. As highlighted by FAIR, American taxpayers are already on the hook for $151 billion to offset the costs of illegal immigration every year. The President’s FY25 budget would only compound the costs imposed on Americans while doing nothing to ensure that their safety and security is protected.

To read more about actions that Biden can take to secure our borders today, click here.

AUTHOR

Kari joined FAIR in June 2023 after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies. She has spent time working in local, state and federal politics, the most notable being her work on a gubernatorial campaign, and with a U.S. Senator. As FAIR’s Government Relations Associate, Kari uses her prior experience to establish and maintain effective working relationships with congressional offices, federal agency personnel, and coalition members. She also plays a role in complex research and writing assignments on immigration-related topics.

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EDITORS NOTE: This FAIR column is republished with permission. © COPYRIGHT 2024 FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Biden Moves to Erase Voter ID Requirements That Are Backed By 85% of Voters

85% of people across all demographics support voter ID (the same 85% that didn’t vote for him.)

Biden pushing to erase voter ID requirements that are backed by 85% of voters

By: The Washington Times, March 15, 2024:

Recent comments from Biden administration officials have stirred a debate about the role of federal agencies in supporting citizen participation in elections and the validity of voter ID laws.

Story continues below advertisement

Concerns have been raised by House Republicans over a lack of transparency regarding the implementation of an executive order by President Biden aimed at encouraging federal agencies to assist in voter registration efforts. This is in addition to statements made by Attorney General Merrick Garland questioning the effectiveness of voter ID laws.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, New York Republican and co-chairwoman of the Election Integrity Caucus, disputes claims that voter ID laws disenfranchise voters. “The statistics don’t bear that out. It’s like 85% of people across all demographics support voter ID,” she said, according to The Daily Signal.

Ms. Tenney’s comments were in response to Mr. Garland, who has criticized these laws as “discriminatory, burdensome and unnecessary.”

In a recent speech in Selma, Alabama, the attorney general said he’s committed to election access, noting that he has bolstered the legal team in the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section to challenge what he calls restrictive measures enacted by various states, “including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes and voter ID requirements.”

Read the whole thing.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff Publicly Raising Money for Group Who Was Part of Oct. 7 Atrocities and Terrorist Attack on Israel

Of all the worthy causes for which one can raise money this is what the coprophagic Ella Emhoff comes up with!

However, this should not come as a surprise since her step-mother, Kalamity Harris, was urging people to contribute to a fund for bailing out Antifa and BLM rioters in 2020.

Supporting murderous scum has become something of a family tradition.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff publicly raising money for relief group allegedly tied to Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel

By: Jon Levine, NY Post,  March 16, 2024

Story continues below advertisement

The stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris is publicly raising cash for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — even as the United States has cut funding to the group over its members’ alleged participation in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

Ella Emhoff — whose father is second gentleman Doug Emhoff — posted a link to UNRWA’s English-language fundraising page on her personal Instagram, and only removed it after a Post inquiry to the White House.

“We urge Ms. Emhoff to go on the website of UN Watch and read our reports showing how UNRWA teachers and school principals systematically promote and encourage Jihadi terrorism and the slaughter of Jews,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the nonprofit United Nations watchdog.

UNRWA, the largest employer in Gaza, has long faced international criticism for its close ties to Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2006.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff makes another bizarre NYFW appearance
UNRWA, the largest employer in Gaza, has long faced international criticism for its close ties to Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2006.

President Trump cut US aid to the organization in 2018 — a decision President Biden initially reversed when he took office.

Under Biden’s leadership, at least $730 million found its way to UNRWA’s coffers.

The rapprochement ended, however, in January, when Israel presented evidence that UNRWA employees had been involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that left at least 1,200 dead at a music festival near the Gaza Strip.

As many as 450 UNRWA workers are members of extremist groups in the Gaza Strip, Israel contends.

Hamas tunnels were uncovered under the agency headquarters in Gaza where they also siphoned off the building’s electricity, Israeli officials said.

One released Israeli hostage said they were held prisoner in the home of an UNRWA teacher, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

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New Report Reveals the Extent to Which Hamas Has Infiltrated UN Agency

Biden Appointed Terror-Linked UNRWA Official to Senior Director for Intelligence on National Security Council

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UN EMPLOYEES TOOK PART IN OCTOBER 7 GENOCIDAL MASSACRE OF JEWS, ONLY 12 ARE FIRED

UN Staff Celebrating Hamas October 7th Atrocities

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Another UNRWA School That was Cover for a Hamas Underground Bunker

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UNRWA Caught Teaching Terrorism, Jew-Hatred as Biden Regime Resumes American Taxpayer Funding

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Islamic Terror State Wants to Buy James Bond

After buying The King, Qatar wants to buy Bond.

Is there anywhere that Qatar, the Islamic terror state which has its bloody fingers in everything from Hamas to the Afghanistan collapse to Al Jazeera to 9/11 isn’t?

What about Hollywood?

Daniel Craig is looking for money in the desert; the financiers in the desert want Bond.

It sounds like a half-baked pitch for the next 007 film. In fact, it’s the reality of the present-day film industry: The British movie star is trying to secure financing for a passion project, a version of Shakespeare’s Othello, set in an American barracks in Iraq, from Middle Eastern governments including Qatar, according to people briefed on discussions.

This seems to be a revival of a dumb idea that Craig had starred in back in 2016 in theaters in which he played Iago. By then the Iraq War was fading, but now the whole thing is completely senseless. But I imagine Qatari backing could give it a further anti-American twist.

And then, why not James Bond?

Regardless of who plays Bond… the Qatari government has expressed quiet interest in a connection to upcoming films, the people said.

King Charles III got caught taking Qatari money.

Prince Charles’ office has denied there was any wrongdoing in the heir to the British throne accepting bags full of cash as charity donations from a Qatari politician

After buying the King, Qatar wants to buy Bond.

AUTHOR

 

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

DAVID BLACKMON: The Energy Transition Has Become A Big Green Hot Mess

We spend a lot of time talking and writing about the green energy subsidies contained in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That’s appropriate given that bill’s content of a raft of incentives and subsidies the CBO estimated would amount to $369 billion over 10 years, a number that some analysts have estimated will be a small fraction of the real final price tag of that bill.

Receiving less attention is the set of similar subsidy programs that were contained in 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), one of which allocated the princely sum of $5 billion to the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Transportation (DOT) to serve as grant money to subsidize the installation of fast-charging EV charging stations around the country. In late February, Nick Pope reported at the Daily Caller that, more than two years after passage of the bill, this government program has resulted in the opening of just two locations – in Ohio and New York – that include only 8 such charging stations.

The slowness of this process should not come as a surprise to anyone, given that this subsidy program incorporates the massive bureaucracies at two federal departments. It is the nature of government agencies to find ways of slowing whatever process over which they have purview, not to speed them up. That’s not a slam on the people who staff those agencies, but a simple recognition of the realities they face in attempting to conform their actions to the complexities of the laws they are required to enforce, of which the IIJA is merely one.

This tension between the nature and complexity of western law and the need for speed the Biden White House hopes to achieve with the setting of hyper-aggressive goals and timelines related to the adoption and enforcement of its Green New Deal policies always has been and remains the central conundrum of the energy transition in the United States. The pace of the multi-faceted, $300 trillion transition is already drastically behind schedule, both in the US and across the rest of the world. There is little prospect for that pace to catch up to the desired timelines anytime in the future.

This reality is not unique to the world of electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure needs, which are massive and hugely expensive. There is also the need for dramatically expanding the electric grid, which provides power to every aspect of not only the transition but to society as a whole. The needs there were already unimaginably huge even before the rise of AI, a power hog of unprecedented proportions.

While the IRA and IIJA included incentives and subsidies that address a subset of the thousands of moving parts of an integrated energy transition, many major elements – such as the gigantic transmission expansion needed for the power grid – were left out entirely.

When the IRA was passed, I warned that the Biden White House viewed it as not a stand-alone subsidy bill, but merely as a down payment for what it viewed as a series of even larger subsidy efforts to come. If one accepts that the climate is really in an emergency condition – as the climate alarm lobby’s propaganda claims – then the passage of a perhaps unending series of debt-funded subsidy bills becomes a moral imperative, after all.

One of the big dangers there is that the momentum behind this fear-driven need for speed begins to be used as justification for the limitation or even abrogation of guaranteed rights of all stakeholders. We see this already starting to happen in states like California and Massachusetts, where Democrat Governors Gavin Newsom and Maura Healey are pushing efforts to overrule the rights of local governments to deny permits for new wind projects and other “green” energy priorities.

The slowness of federal bureaucracies only serves to heighten this sense of alarm, the worst possible motivation to justify the allocation of trillions of debt-funded dollars. It is the worst of all possible worlds, one in which policies motivated by politics promote investment decisions free markets would never create on their own and result in outcomes that do not begin to solve the problem allegedly at hand. It is, in a word, a mess.

The views and opinions express in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

AUTHOR

DAVID BLACKMON

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


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AWED MEDIA BALANCED NEWS: We cover COVID to Climate, as well as Energy to Elections.

Welcome! We cover COVID to Climate, as well as Energy to Elections.

Here is the link for this issue, so please share it on social media.

Checkout the 2023, 2022, 2021 & 2020 archives, plus asterisked items below.

FYI, here is the subscribers history to my Critical Thinking substack, since day 1.

If you like the Newsletter, please signup. My weekly commentaries are free!


— This Newsletter’s Articles, by Topic —

If You Only Have Time to Read Some Select Articles:

*** Thoughts On The Present State Of American Affairs

*** The 2024 Election Will Be Neither Free Nor Fair

*** Election Integrity Depends on a Virtuous and Engaged Citizenry

*** Mom and political newbie defeats incumbent NC Education Superintendent

*** 60± RNC Staffers Asked to Resign

*** It Begins: AI Is Being Used To Deceive Voters, Disrupt Elections Worldwide

*** Will We Reach Peak Stupidity Before Peak Corruption and Does it Really Matter?

*** Fabulous talk by Dr. Scott Atlas re Fauci, et. al.

*** Short video: The Great COVID Cover-Up | Rand Paul

*** A Tinfoil-Hat Conspiracist no Longer

*** New report blasts government’s COVID response, warns of repeating same mistakes

*** Medicine Has Lost Its Way

*** House Committee Report: The Weaponization of the National Science Foundation

*** French Council of State annuls wind turbine permits, major impact on energy future

*** Irish High Court Slams Wind Turbine Operator for Noise “Like planes that Never Land”

*** Short video: Energy and the Poverty of Nations

*** These 10 Charts Caused an NGO Hissy Fit at NARUC

*** Expect the Evil

*** Alarming Religious Freedom Trends in Democracies Demand Attention

*** The Truth Is The Truth

*** Jordan Peterson Issues Warning about Govt Surveillance and Future ‘Secret’ Police

*** Trudeau Demands Life In Prison For Speech Crimes

*** Google’s Gemini AI exposes tech’s left-leaning biases

*** Not So Free-lance: Fed Rule Takes Effect March 11th

*** Experts: Trillions Spent on ‘Climate Change’ Based on Faulty Temperature Data

*** 5 Tips for Teaching Your Child Humility

Secondary Education Related:

*** Report: The Key to Fixing the US Education System

*** Mom and political newbie defeats incumbent NC Education Superintendent

*** NC Ed Super Loses to Mom Opposed to Radical Agendas

*** What’s going on with America’s public schools? Enrollment drops and chronic absenteeism tell a dramatic tale

*** Moms for Liberty’s UNCENSORED 60 Minutes Interview

When Classical Learning Meets Public Education, the Dialogue Isn’t Always Socratic

Artificial Intelligence:

*** Google’s Gemini AI exposes tech’s left-leaning biases

Musk To Start His Own Non-Woke AI Company To Compete With OpenAI

AI chat bots are automated Wikipedias warts and all

Top scientist warns AI could surpass human intelligence by 2027 – decades earlier than previously predicted

 Unreliables (General):

Report: Green Guardrails

America’s Energy Scam

Green Tyrants Get Horrible News as Finance Giants Pull Out Left and Right

High Costs, Greenlash Hit Europe

Transition? What Transition?

Wind Energy — Offshore:

CFACT says offshore wind violates Clean Air and Clean Water Acts

Renewed push to put wind turbines in Lake Erie gets blowback in Hamburg

Wind Energy — Other:

*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)

*** French Council of State annuls wind turbine permits, major impact on energy future

*** Irish High Court Slams Wind Turbine Operator for Noise “Like planes that Never Land”

Solar Energy:

US Solar Factories Are In for ‘Rude Awakening,’ Report Warns

Fossil Fuel Energy:

Policymakers are clueless that all energy sources came after the discovery of oil

Electric Vehicles (EVs):

EVs lose market share across Europe in January

Misc Energy:

*** Short video: Energy and the Poverty of Nations

*** These 10 Charts Caused an NGO Hissy Fit at NARUC

*** Net Zero Emergency Power

America Is Running Out Of Power, Is Rationing And Soaring Energy Prices Ahead?

America’s Energy Scam: A Deliberate Exploitation of Humanity that Only Increases Emissions!

Heat Pumps Could Quadruple Your Electricity Consumption

Robert Bryce: A Sunday Roundup

When Technocrats Intentionally Sabotage A Nation’s Energy Supply

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:

*** Experts: Trillions Spent on ‘Climate Change’ Based on Faulty Temperature Data

*** The “climate disclosure” fraud

The Continuing Albedo Change Warms the Earth More Than Twice as Much as CO2

The Sad Joke of Climate Change Politics

Did Exxon Make It Rain Today?

Manmade Global Warming — Misc:

Climate Fact Checks: 2024

Methane is Responsible for 30%± of the Current Rise in Global Temperature

New Book: Everything Reminds Me of Tim: Biography of Tim Ball

Manmade Global Warming — Farming:

Why Not to Worry about Farming’s Contribution to Global Warming

The Battle for our Grasslands and Livestock

The Big Squeeze: Over 140,000 U.S. Farms Lost In 5 Years

US Election:

Election-Integrity.info (10 major election reports by our team of experts, plus much more!)

*** Election Integrity Depends on a Virtuous and Engaged Citizenry

*** The 2024 Election Will Be Neither Free Nor Fair

*** 60± RNC Staffers Asked to Resign

Let My People Go” Full Length Documentary

House Republicans Probe Education Department’s ‘Partisan’ Bidenbucks Scheme

Highlights: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on a Bill That Puts the DOJ in Control of Elections

US Election — State Issues:

Early Voting in Michigan a Big Flat Flop

RNC Sues Michigan Secretary of State

Misc US Politics:

*** Not So Free-lance: Fed Rule Takes Effect March 11th

*** The Truth Is The Truth

Mr. President, What About Day 1,461?

Censorship:

*** Jordan Peterson Issues Warning about Govt Surveillance and Future ‘Secret’ Police

*** Trudeau Demands Life In Prison For Speech Crimes

*** The Broad, Vague RESTRICT Act Is a Dangerous Substitute for Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation

CHD, John Stockton and Censored Doctors Sue Washington Medical Commission

Societally US:

*** Thoughts On The Present State Of American Affairs

*** Tyranny Is Rising As Freedom Falls

*** 5 Tips for Teaching Your Child Humility

GOP lawmakers rip VA for memo to remove iconic WW II victory kiss photo, demand author be fired

Globalism:

*** It Begins: AI Is Being Used To Deceive Voters, Disrupt Elections Worldwide

*** Will We Reach Peak Stupidity Before Peak Corruption and Does it Really Matter?

Irish voters, I salute you

Childless China: Coercive Population Plan Implodes

Religion Related:

*** Expect the Evil

*** Alarming Religious Freedom Trends in Democracies Demand Attention

Science:

*** House Committee Report: The Weaponization of the National Science Foundation

Doing statistics can be difficult but understanding them can be fairly simple

Harvard achieves consensus by eliminating those who disagree

When Science Journals Become Activists

Health:

*** Medicine Has Lost Its Way

*** A new Report exposing dangerously pseudoscientific surgical and hormonal experiments on children, adolescents, and adults

Achieving quality in clinical decision making: cognitive strategies and detection of bias

Cancer risk assessment, its wretched history and what it means for public health

Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say

The Yin and Yang of traditional Chinese and Western healthcare

Ukraine/Israel:

Latest Developments in Israel: March 17th

Latest Developments in Ukraine: March 17th

The Consequences of Good Intentions: Ukraine

Pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people

A well-rated source to make a Ukraine donation

COVID-19 — Misc:

*** Fabulous talk by Dr. Scott Atlas

*** New report blasts government’s COVID response, warns of repeating same mistakes

*** Short video: The Great COVID Cover-Up | Rand Paul

*** A Tinfoil-Hat Conspiracist no Longer

“Long Vax” Finally Enters The Lexicon


Please use social media, etc. to pass on this Newsletter to other open-minded citizens…If you’d like to be added to (or unsubscribe from) the distribution of our popular, free, worldwide Media Balance Newsletter, simply send me an email saying that.


Note 1: We recommend reading the Newsletter on your computer, not your phone, as some documents (e.g., PDFs) are much easier to read on a large computer screen… We’ve tried to use common fonts, etc. to minimize display issues.

Note 2: For past Newsletter issues see the archives from: 2020 & 2021 & 2022 & 2023. To accommodate numerous requests received about prior articles over all thirteen plus years of the Newsletter, we’ve put this together — where you can search ALL prior issues, by year. For a background about how the Newsletter is put together, etc., please read this.

Note 3: See this extensive list of reasonable books on climate change. As a parallel effort, we have also put together a list of some good books related to industrial wind energy. Both topics are also extensively covered on my website: WiseEnergy.org.

Note 4: I am not an attorney or a physician, so no material appearing in any of the Newsletters (or any of my websites) should be construed as giving legal or medical advice. My recommendation has always been: consult a competent, licensed attorney when you are involved with legal issues, and consult a competent physician regarding medical matters.

Copyright © 2024; Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (see WiseEnergy.org).

Muslims Understand Compassion Differently Than We Do

The idea that compassion is between man and man, not just God and man, barely exists.


The origins of Islam are twofold. It was a revealed religion, but grew out of pre-Islamic Arabian tribal—that is, Bedouin—culture. When Bedouin cultural values conflicted with Islam, Bedouin culture almost always won out. Over time, Islam and Bedouin culture melded into one. It is this combination that constitutes today’s Islamic culture.

The problem with Islam today is not a problem with Islam as a religion but rather Islamic culture. If Muslims choose to pray five or even 50 times a day, that is no concern of ours. But regarding Islamic culture and its view of non-Muslims, we do have a say.

Hebrew and Arabic share many common words and roots, but their meanings often diverge. For example, in both Arabic and Hebrew, the root R-Ḥ-M refers to the womb and signifies compassion. But the understanding of compassion in Judaism is very different from that of Islam.

The opening line of the Quran is: “In the name of Allah, the merciful and the compassionate.” We know what “merciful” and “compassionate” mean in English. It relates to the relationship between God and man, and between man and man.

In Islamic culture, by contrast, compassion is only between God and man. Compassion between man and man is almost absent. This does not mean that individual Muslims do not share our Western concept of compassion, but if they do, it is not derived from Islamic culture.

When a Jew asks God for compassion and forgiveness during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, he must first approach people he has wronged and ask for forgiveness. The person asked is required to have compassion and forgive. We believe that only by showing compassion to our fellow human beings will God be compassionate and forgiving towards us on Yom Kippur. Islamic culture is quite different.

On Oct. 7, we witnessed the results of this. Among those slaughtered by Gaza Muslims on that day were Bedouin Muslims who were Israeli citizens. They were killed along with Israeli Jews. Unlike the Nazis, who tried to hide their extermination program, the Muslims who slaughtered their fellow human beings—Muslims and non-Muslims—were proud of what they did, as demonstrated by the recordings of phone calls they made to the victims’ parents and friends as the murderers were terrorizing and murdering the recipients’ loved ones.

Why did the murderers also kill other Muslims? Because Muslims care first and foremost about their family, their clan and tribal associations, in that order. This has been true throughout Islamic history. Compassion towards one’s fellow human beings often barely exists.

There are many examples of this phenomenon:

When Hamas, the Iranian regime and Hezbollah send shahids—martyrs—to kill themselves in the name of Allah, they do not choose them from their own families. If they had compassion for others, why would they send other people’s children to their deaths? As we say, put your money where your mouth is.

In Arab culture, blood feuds continue for years without forgiveness or compassion. Perceived “wrongs” must be “righted” by deadly vengeance even if the original insult or crime might have happened generations ago.

Women suspected of dishonoring their families may be killed by family members. In some cases, the woman’s “transgression” is merely talking to a man who is not from the same family. It is not uncommon for fathers and even mothers to tell one of their sons to erase the blot on the family honor by killing his sister. We know of cases in which the son protested and his father told him that if he refused to kill his sister, he would be cast out of the family—which is the only security the son has.

Co-author Harold Rhode once taught a class in the Islamic world about Islamic culture. A female Muslim student wearing a hijab told him that she had to be very careful about talking to a non-relative. At the end of the day, when classes were over, her father personally escorted her home to her village. This student understood very well that if there were any rumors about her, she could end up dead. Moreover, her sisters pleaded with her not to do anything that might dishonor their family and thereby prevent them from being able to marry.

Before the Syrian civil war began in 2011, the country’s population was as high as 22 million. Since then, millions of Syrians have been killed, expelled or displaced to other countries. We have no idea what the population of Syria is today. It could be as little as 6-10 million. We wonder how Syrian dictator Bashar Assad could do this to his “own” people. But Assad doesn’t see most of them as his “own” people. He is a member of the Alawite sect. He is not a Sunni Muslim like approximately 72% of Syria’s pre-war population. To him, these Sunnis are expendable because their existence threatens his regime. Compassion does not enter into the equation.

When Kurdish citizens of Turkey refuse to call themselves “Turks,” the Turkish government has often labeled them “terrorists” to justify imprisoning or killing them. Not for nothing do the Kurds have a proverb: “No friends but the mountains,” expressing their feelings of loneliness, betrayal and abandonment.

When Islam conquers, it conquers by the sword. That is why there is a sword on the Saudi flag. Saudi Arabia’s ruling creed is an extreme form of Sunni Islam. Its flag symbolizes this creed. Beautiful calligraphy on the flag reads: “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” This simple statement, called the Shahada, is the central principle of the Islamic creed. The sword symbolizes their prophet’s conquest of pagans. The message: Either convert to Islam or die.

When shahids capture enemies, they do not just kill them. They usually make them suffer. Only then does the shahid kill his victim.

In 1947-1948, when Palestinian Arabs fled then-Palestine, their fellow Arabs responded by putting them into refugee camps, where many of them and their descendants still languish. Their “fellow Arabs” never had compassion on them and assimilated them. By contrast, when Jews fled from the surrounding Arab countries, Israel welcomed them, and the fledgling state helped to establish them as full citizens.

In Persian, the closest equivalent to the English phrase “it doesn’t matter” is “it doesn’t bring shame” (eib na-dareh). This means that what you have done will not shame or humiliate you and your family. We rarely think about shame and humiliation, but Muslims almost always have them in the back of their minds. If someone does something shameful or humiliating, others have no compassion for them.

These are just a few examples of how differently we Westerners and the Muslim world understand compassion. Our concepts of compassion and mercy are very different from those of Islamic culture. This, in short, is why so much of the Muslim world is so violent not only towards others, but towards other Muslims as well.

This article originally appeared in the Jewish News Syndicate.

AUTHORS

HAROLD RHODE

Harold Rhode received in Ph.D. in Islamic history and later served as the Turkish Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of Defense. He is now a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

BENNETT RUDA

Bennett Ruda is a freelance journalist for The Jewish Press and a contributor to the popular Elder of Ziyon blog.

©2024. . All rights reserved.

The Betrayal: Russia, Ukraine, and the Kievan Rus’

Tucker Carlson is an emblem of American journalism. He didn’t know Russian history, the era of Stalinism and Russian counterintelligence Apparatus. But it didn’t stop him from traveling to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin. Carlson didn’t know Vladimir Putin either, but Tucker wanted to know his opinion on the Russian War on Ukraine. In the beginning of February 2024, Carlson gave Putin the opportunity to propagandize global humanity with half-truth and lies for two hours. Carlson made a monumental mistake. He has never read my columns to learn the terms Socialist Charlatans and Socialist modus operandi: lies, deception, fabrication and fraud.

Tucker Carlson has never heard about A Global Spy Ring led by a devoted disciple of Stain/Andropov, Vladimir Putin, a global leader of Socialist Charlatans. Watching a recent performance of Fani Willis in the court has reminded me of the Soviet Socialist Charlatans and Socialist modus operandi. The phrase in Judge’s Ruling “an odor of mendacity” has also reminded me Socialist modus operandi used by both Fani and her boyfriend, like Putin used it in his interview. March 15-17, 2024 election is poised to win Putin’s Presidency for the 5th time. To learn how Putin keeps winning elections in Russia read my column: Russian/Chinese Intel: Carousel and COVID-19 in AmericaDecember 21, 2020.

If you still have illusions about Russia and Putin, you would never be able to understand a global war against Western civilization and the American capitalism waged by the Anti-Semitic, Terrorist State of Russia. I am a former Soviet defense attorney and a student of history. I have already expressed my opinion on the Russian War on Ukraine seven years ago in my column: The KGB’s Roots and Pedigrees, October 19, 2017. To show you an objective truth, I put together the compilation from Wikipedia,

Britannica.com and History.com to present existing scientific researches of different historians on the subject.                             

The Name Kievan Rus’

According to Wikipedia, the name Russia comes from the Medieval Latin name for the Kievan Rus’. The Rus’ were Norse merchants who settled in northern Russia in the 9th century. The current Russian name for Russia, Россия (Rossiya), comes from the Byzantine Greek name for Rus’ (Ρωσία / Rosía). Wikipedia. The history.com is giving us even more beneficial and detailed descriptions. Pay attention to the centuries of the Kievan Rus’ existing and the birth of the Moscow State four centuries later:

“Kievan Rus was a medieval kingdom that existed from 862–1242. It was a confederation of city-states and principalities that covered the geographic area of modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, and part of Russia. The kingdom’s capital was Kyiv, which was founded in the 6th or 7th century.

Kievan Rus was founded by Prince Oleg in the late 9th century. The kingdom’s economy was based on agriculture and trade, due to the region’s varied climates. The Grand Princes of Kiev were wealthier than many Western rulers, and they traded with Constantinople and the Eastern lands.

The period from 1015–1125 is considered the Golden Age of early Rus’. During this time, the prince of Kiev exercised relatively coherent political authority. The Kievan Rus reached its peak during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, who married many of his children to neighboring nations to establish trade relations and maintain peace.

The name Rus’ is thought to come from an Old Norse word meaning “the men who row”. This is because rowing was the main way to navigate the rivers of Eastern Europe. The name may also be linked to the Swedish coastal area of Ros Lagen or Roden.

The Rus were a group of Varangian warriors from Scandinavia who established a powerful kingdom in southern Russia in the 9th century. They are considered the ancestors of today’s Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. The term “Kievan Rus” is used by historians to describe the era when Kyiv was the capital of Rus, which was moved to Vladimir in 1169 ( Vladimir is a city). In the 20th century, historians began to use the term to refer to the whole Rus before the Mongol invasion.

The origin of the Kievan state and the name Rus are still debated by historians. According to the traditional account in The Russian Primary Chronicle, it was founded by the Viking Oleg, ruler of Novgorod from around 879. ( I highlight it deliberately to focus your attention—the Viking Oleg.)

(Vikings and Varangians are both came from Scandinavia)

Who, when, and why came up with the name Kievan Rus? In …Aug 21, 2023

Quora

Names of Rus’, Russia and Ruthenia – Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Kievan Rus | Medieval State, Europe, Culture & Religion | Britannica  Feb 1, 2024

britannica.com

This Is Why Russia Is Called Russia – Culture Trip Jun 18, 2018

Culture Trip

What was the significance of the Byzantine Empire? – Cliffs Notes Mar 28, 2023

cliffsnotes.com

How Moscow has long used the historic Kyivan Rus state to justify expansionism… Mar 8, 2022

The Conversation:  According to a 2022 article in The Conversation, Moscow has long used the historic Kyivan Rus state to justify expansionism.

Kievan Rus was a political and cultural center of eastern Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries. It prospered due to its abundant supply of furs, beeswax, honey, and slaves for export, and because it controlled three main trade routes of Eastern Europe. ( Pay attention, the author talks about Eastern Europe prior to the Mongol invasion.)

The Mongol conquest in the 13th century decisively ended its power. Historians argue that without the Mongol destruction of Kievan Rus’, the Rus would not have unified into the Tsardom of Russia and, subsequently, the Russian Empire would not have risen. ( I agree.)

The Ukrainian language traces its origins to the Old East Slavic language of the ancient state of Kievan Rus’.

When Viking Kings and Queens Ruled Medieval Russia Dec 4, 2019

istory.com  For four centuries, Vikings held sway over parts of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with the greatest expansion happening under Prince Oleg the Prophet. Dec 4, 2019.

Why was it called  Russia?

According to Wikipedia, the modern Russian name for Russia, Rossiya, comes from the Greek word Rosia, which comes from the self-name of the Rues’ people, Ῥῶς. The English name Russia comes from the Medieval Latin word Russi, which means “the Russians”, and the suffix -ia. The name first appeared in the 14th century.

The name Russia comes from the Medieval Latin name for the Kievan Rus’, which comes from the name of the Rus’ people. The Rus’ people were Norse merchants who settled in northern Russia. In 1721, Tsar Peter the Great renamed the state the Russian Empire, hoping to associate it with the historical and cultural achievements of ancient Rus’. “ (I underlined this sentence deliberately for a reason.) “Tsar Peter the Great renamed the state the Russian Empire, hoping to associate it with the historical and cultural achievements of ancient Rus.”  The author of the article admitted the fact of two states’ historical existence—the Kievan Rus and the Russian Empire. Tsar Peter the Great also understood it and acted intentionally.

I hope that the long and scientific explanation of the events in an ancient time can help you to have your own judgment about Russia’s War on Ukraine. You can also check Cambridge History of Russia, the first volume: This first volume of the Cambridge History of Russia covers the period from early (‘Kievan’) Rus’ to the start of Peter the Great’s reign in 1689. It surveys the development of Russia through the Mongol invasions to the expansion of the Muscovite state in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and deals with political, social, economic and cultural issues…

History is the mother of all sciences. Knowledge of history has determined our future. There is a reason, I gave you that long explanation about Russia’s War against Ukraine. As I mentioned above, Putin is a devoted disciple of the Stalin/Andropov ideology of Soviet Socialism, which I called Soviet fascism. It is an aggressive expansionist ideology, which has a direct connection to the historic Russian past and 300 years of Mongol occupying Russia. I’d again recommend you to read my column: The KGB’s Roots and Pedigrees, October 19, 2017.

As a matter of fact, there can never be the Great Russian Empire without Ukraine, the largest European country. Putin knows it. Biden’s presidency is a historic moment for him and his KGB’s Mafia/Army to use the Putin/Biden collusion and to complete the infiltration and demolition of the American republic. Look at the global knot of events at the Southern border: Russian Cartels there, thousands of foreign Drones have violated our sky space, and millions of illegals entering our soil. Don’t be surprised by Biden’s ceasefire and Schumer’s denouncing PM Netanyahu at the time of Israel-Hamas War. Both are acts of betrayal by Socialist Charlatans, which is threatening our national security and decent people still don’t know the truth…

The Betrayal

I have to remind you again that betrayal has its history in America. I have been writing about the truth and warning you for the last forty-three years about a terrorist state of Russia, infiltrating all American democratic institutions. The FBI has prevented you from knowing the truth by submitting my name to the FISA Court and the Court made me a Foreign Agent, subsequently banning my writings in 2002. As you can see, the betrayal has a long history in America and only the truth about the Dems leadership’s collusion with Russian Intel can expose betrayal…

That betrayal is going on at this minute: the unrest in Haiti is not an accident. Russia had been targeting Haiti to make the second Venezuela for decades. The proximity of Haiti to America is the reason. Recently, the PM of Haiti has been assassinated and criminal gangs of war-lords are tearing apart the country—a typical sign of the KGB’s Mafia/Army there. The governor of Florida, DeSantis expects a flotilla of illegals and criminal gangs headed to Florida, but he doesn’t have enough vessels to stop it. Biden’s team won’t help Florida. There will be a three-front war against the American republic—Biden’s White House, Russian Cartels on the Southern border, and the Russian-run Haiti flotilla. Don’t you see the result of the Dems party’s betrayal?  Watch the faces of Socialist Charlatans like John Kirby, and Antony Blinken and you will get “an odor of mendacity.”

“An odor of mendacity” began a hundred years ago, when dictator Stalin had developed his ideology of Soviet Socialism in Russia, which I called Soviet Fascism. That fraudulent ideology had been spread across the globe by the Russian Intel. I have dedicated forty-three years to the subject, warning you about the KGB’s Mafia/Army—the Evil Doer. Stalin’s legacy is alive and well in 2024 America. The famous Stalin’s postulate: “Never admit crime committed, instead accuse your opponent of that exact crime” is used by the Biden regime. Please, recall the recent seven years and the Dem’s fiasco accusing Trump collusion with Russia. They did it to cover up that exact crime Biden’s Crime/Family had been committed, following Stalin’s recommendation.

There is a lot of fraud around. In my opinion, all Trump’s indictments are a fraud, they are the reflections of the crimes committed by Biden’s Crime/family. The fraud has been done by the Democrat Party to cover up their own collusion with Russian Intel started by Bill Clinton and lasted for decades. As a Socialist Charlatan, Biden just inherited it from Barack Obama. There are thousands, if not millions Socialist Charlatans in America: they don’t know Socialism, but they love it. They hate capitalism and help the Democrats to destroy the American republic. They have sabotaged the Republican House Committees, destroyed documents and bought time to save the Democrats from defeat. They helped Democrats to survived…

Socialist Charlatans have bought a lot of times, because the Republicans don’t know them and deal with Biden in a too delicate manner. I am writing this column for the Republicans. They have the last chance to save the American Constitutional republic, by learning about our deadly enemies: the Socialist/Communist tandem or team of the Russian/Chinese Intel.

I have been writing about this for the last forty-three years.

Use it, read my columns for free and save the American republic!

To be continued SimonaPipko.com and at Simona Pipko

©2024. Simona Pipko. All rights reserved.

VIDEO: October Surprise Coming — Biden Executive Order to Allow Illegal Aliens to Vote

Michael Letts is the Founder, President, and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, hence his pro-police stance for his brothers and sisters in blue.

WATCH: Biden to issue Executive Order to allowing illegal aliens to vote before election day!

©2024. . All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden Moves to Erase Voter ID Requirements That Are Backed By 85% of Voters

HAWAII: Democrat’s Bill HB2079 Would Legalize Child Kidnapping for Sex Change

by Austin Martin, Chair, Hawaii Libertarian Party

The Hawaii Kidnapping Bill (HB2079, ‘Relating to Health’) is among the worst proposed laws of this legislative session.

Awaiting Senate action after passing the House, HB2079 grants a de-facto immunity and asylum in Hawaii for any kidnapper who claims to be helping a child receive so-called ‘gender-affirming’ treatments.

The bill’s intent to legalize interstate kidnapping is outlined in the text:

§583A-208 – Jurisdiction declined by reason of conduct:

(d)  In making a determination under this section, a court shall not consider as a factor weighing against the petitioner any taking of the child, or retention of the child after a visit or other temporary relinquishment of physical custody, from the person who has legal custody if there is evidence that the taking or retention of the child was for the purposes of obtaining gender-affirming health care services for the child and the law or policy of the other state limits the ability of a parent to obtain gender‑affirming health care services for the child.

Testimony in support of HB2079 comes from Oregon-based QueerDoc.com which describes itself as, “a telemedicine-based gender affirming clinic.”  QueerDoc arrogantly announces, “the medicine and science are not up for debate” and enthuses about 100s of mainland telehealth practitioners who “can issue a prescription for estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone blocking medications at that telehealth appointment.”

Far from unbiased, QueerDoc has an agenda for our children.  The clinic was founded by an MD who describes herself as “they” and on her website touts “lived experience as a nonbinary femme and are SUPER queer themself, enjoying queer burlesque, vintage fashion, and their queer, kinky, poly family!”

Most of this bill is a series of loopholes, redefinitions, and special opt-outs of legal norms all in service of making Hawaii a sanctuary for underage sex change surgery.  Amendments to deep and highly specialized areas of the law work together in the service of legalizing the truly unthinkable.

The Hawaii Kidnapping Bill’s unique and unmistakable true intent is to allow legal protections for any non-parent with sufficient access and means to remove a child of any age from their home state, and to bring them to Hawaii in the name of receiving “Gender Affirming Care” – so long as they could not receive said ‘care’ in their home state.

The many sections of Hawaii Revised Statutes affected by the Hawaii Kidnapping Bill are designed to trigger a series of child-custody ‘loopholes’ that cause inter-state barriers to be systematically removed, so long as the instigator says the magic words: “Gender Affirming Care.”

The bill accomplishes its perverse ends by a ‘reinterpretation’ of a critical section of the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) which governs interstate child-custody proceedings, and amending over a dozen other laws, to exempt any petitioner from the oversight offered by Hawaii’s Family Court system.

The bill’s proposed amendments to the UCCJEA redefine a family-court emergency, to allow any person “acting as a parent” to obtain emergency temporary custody against natural parents who decline to provide their children so-called “Gender Affirming Care.”   Natural parents’ refusal to provide sex-change procedures would be treated as being of the same legal weight and severity as actual physical abuse or child abandonment.

The bill reads:

§583A-204, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

(a)  A court of this State [has] shall have temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this State and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because [the]:

(1)  The child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse[.]; or

(2)  The child has been unable to obtain gender‑affirming health care services.

This language plainly redefines a custody “emergency” to mean “unable to obtain gender‑affirming health care services.”

The rewriting of this uniform, nationwide custody law also undermines and threatens Hawaii’s participation in the UCCJEA.  The whole point of our Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act is uniformity.  If Hawaii passes HB2079 and stops returning children to other states, we risk being unable to secure the return of any Hawaii child who is taken out of state to pursue a custody battle.

The court that prevails in exercising jurisdiction first, usually maintains jurisdiction for the rest of the case, both practically and statistically speaking.  Under the proposed language from HB2079, once ‘emergency jurisdiction’ is sought and approved by the Hawaii Family Court, several critical timelines begin to toll for the legal residency of the child to determine which court will have the ultimate say in final custody determinations.

The next phase is the so-called ‘temporary orders’ hearing. This section of HB2079 creates another loophole that can be easily exploited by a motivated kidnapper to keep a stolen child for longer than the short-term ‘emergency jurisdiction’ alone would allow.

The loophole specifically reads:

(d) The presence of a child in this State for the purpose of obtaining gender-affirming health care services shall be sufficient to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2).”

Subsection (a)(2) governs what a court must do when the child is not clearly a legal resident of the State.

The UCCJEA prohibits this kind of abuse of temporary placement – as the original language of (a)(2) along with requirements (A) & (B) below shows us:

§583A-201 Initial child-custody jurisdiction.

(a)  Except as otherwise provided in section 583A-204, a court of this State shall have jurisdiction to make an initial child-custody determination only if: …

(1)  This State is the home state of the child …or…

(2)  A court of another state does not have jurisdiction under paragraph (1), or a court of the home state of the child has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this State is the more appropriate forum under section 583A-207 or 583A-208, and:

(A)  The child and the child’s parents, or the child and at least one parent or a person acting as a parent, have a significant connection with this State other than mere physical presence; and

(B)  Substantial evidence is available in this State concerning the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships;…

Under the proposed language from HB2079, these UCCJEA requirements are magically deemed “satisfied” and replaced–by using three magic words: “Gender Affirming Care”, if the child is from a state that has sex-change laws deemed insufficient by Hawaii and/or the natural parents are not providing sex-change ‘treatments.’  The kidnapper–who may be a non-relative– is treated by the Hawaii Family Court like a good Samaritan who will be granted temporary custody of a child stolen from his or her biological parents.   No recourse nor due process is available for the affected victims and their families in their home state.

Local parents are also stripped of Hawaii Family Court recourse because HB2079 places their failure to provide access to so-called ‘Gender Affirming Care’ in the same category as child abuse, or more specifically, medical neglect.   There is no meaningful due process for any family that is accused of medical neglect.  There is no provision for legal representation or even notification of parents.

This bill goes to great lengths to enable outrageous practices across state lines.  It aims to build long-term and short-term cases against parents who are otherwise perfectly fit – solely based on their sex-change viewpoint and/or the laws of their state.  It allows any motivated adult to kidnap children with impunity from any state deemed insufficient in its sex-change laws.

In the recent Geanna Bradley torture-murder case , her legal guardians allegedly exploited telehealth for months or even years to hide their alleged torture of Geanna.  Yet HB2079 allows telehealth practitioners to prescribe sex-change hormones to juveniles:

§329-     Prescriptions; gender-affirming health care services.  (a)  Notwithstanding this chapter or any other law to the contrary, for the purposes of providing gender‑affirming health care services, a practitioner who is licensed in this State may prescribe schedule III and IV controlled substances, including testosterone:

(1)  While the practitioner is located outside the State; and

(2)  Without conducting an in‑person consultation with the patient; provided that the practitioner shall prescribe the controlled substances via a synchronous audio-visual telehealth interaction

According to the text, a single telehealth Zoom call is all it would take: after that, upon filing a petition to exercise emergency jurisdiction to a Hawaii court, instantly, the kidnapping of any child legally becomes a civil case and no longer open to prosecution as a criminal matter – denying victims and their families the help of federal or state law enforcement to return their children before permanent harm is done, and also forcing the out-of-state family to travel to Hawaii to be present for hearings. If the kidnapper has a long enough head-start and the family doesn’t suspect them, by the time they find out what is happening, it could already be too late.

If the home state claims the child was kidnapped and attempts to escalate a criminal case – the bill’s authors, disgustingly, have thought of that possibility too:

§323J-6  Denial of demands for surrender.  Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 832 to the contrary, the governor shall deny any demand made by the executive authority of any state for the surrender of any person charged with a crime under the laws of that state when the alleged crime involves [the provision or receipt of,]:

(1) Seeking, receiving, paying for, or [assistance with,] inquiring about reproductive health care services[,] or gender-affirming health care services;

(2) Providing or responding to an inquiry about reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services;

(3) Assisting or aiding or abetting in any of the conduct described in paragraph (1) or (2); or

(4) Attempting or intending to engage in or providing material support for (or any other theory of vicarious, attempt, joint, several, or conspiracy liability derived therefrom) conduct described in paragraphs (1) to (3),”

Laws contrary to the public policy of this State.

(a)  A law of another state authorizing a civil action or criminal prosecution based on any of the following [is] shall be declared to be contrary to the public policy of this State:

(1)  [Receiving, seeking, or] Seeking, receiving, paying for, or inquiring about reproductive health care services[;] or gender-affirming health care services that are lawful under the laws of this State;

(2)  Providing or responding to an inquiry about reproductive health care services[;] or gender‑affirming health care services that are lawful under the laws of this State;

(3)  [Engaging in conduct that assists or aids or abets the provision or receipt of reproductive health care services;] Assisting or aiding or abetting in any of the conduct described in paragraph (1) or (2); or

(4)  Attempting or intending to engage in or providing material support for (or any other theory of vicarious, attempt, joint, several, or conspiracy liability derived therefrom) conduct described in paragraphs (1) to (3)[,in accordance with the laws of this State].

HB2079 would forbid the entire State of Hawaii, including the Governor, from disclosing records or extraditing any kidnapper charged in another state, so long as the kidnapper alleges that the purpose of taking the child was to provide access to gender affirming care. It would forbid the courts from returning any child kidnapped from their home state under these auspices by nullifying any direct criminal charges. The authoritarian bill even forbids sending any information about whether the child has been subjected to life-changing procedures, like sex-change surgeries, even if the biological parents obtained help from the other states’ Governors, or if other authorities were to make formal legal demands.  It would leave out-of-state parents completely in the dark and at the mercy of distant kangaroo courts. It even forbids the extradition of anyone charged with a crime in connection with ‘helping a child to receive Gender Affirming Care’, granting effective immunity for the actions of interstate kidnappers, so long as those actions are claimed to be in service of helping the child access Gender Affirming Care, even if they are wanted fugitives for those acts in another state.

Please let that sink in for a moment.

The Hawaii Kidnapping Bill also makes it a crime to interfere with the kidnappers or to disclose any data about the ‘Gender Affirming Care’ with anyone other than the kidnapper-petitioner, even if ordered by another court.

All this is predicated on nothing more than a single telehealth Zoom call as ‘evidence’ for the life-changing decision of an interstate judicial child custody determination.

It mandates nondisclosure by every last ‘mandatory reporter’ professional and care provider that could conceivably influence such a proceeding, placing a permanent professional gag order on whatever is done to the abducted children, no matter what authority or expert is doing the questioning.

It would be a crime under State law to comply with any oversight or investigation into the kidnappings from outside of Hawaii. Inside Hawaii, the situation would only be different if the family consented to give their children sex-changes; if not, then the provisions, when taken together, may form a direct bar to anyone requesting this information for any purpose contrary to promoting access to Gender Affirming Care. (The most relevant sections on this inquiry include: §323J-2, §323J-3, §323J-4, §451J-12). It appears that any family in Hawaii who does not consent to such care would not have access to records.

The authors of the Hawaii Kidnapping Bill have made a very distinct legislative package designed to facilitate abusive behavior. If it passes, the odds of an out-of-state family ever getting their child back from Hawaii legally would be slim.  This law provides for atrocities against vulnerable, trafficked minors – with no legal protection or recourse for defendants and victims, and full protection for the perpetrators.

HB2079:  Text, Status –  Passed Third Reading in the House, March 5, 2024, with Representative(s) Chun, Souza voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Aiu, Alcos, Garcia, Gates, Holt, Kila, Kong, La Chica, Lamosao, Martinez, Matsumoto, Pierick, Quinlan, Ward voting no (14) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2).

EDITORS NOTE: This Hawaii Free Press column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Artificial Intelligence in Political Campaigns: Benefits, Risks, and Ethical Considerations

Have you ever wondered how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the world of politics? The topic is as fascinating as it is potentially concerning. AI influences political campaigns in many ways, from analyzing voter sentiment to tracking campaign costs and conducting opposition research.

AI’s impact on politics is far-reaching. Imagine understanding voter preferences and outreach strategies in real-time, thanks to AI’s ability to analyze social media trends and sentiment. By examining influencers, trends, and public sentiment, campaigns can better tailor their messages to connect with voters. It’s like having a real-time pulse on the electorate.

Not only can AI help campaigns understand voters, but it can also assist in measuring the effectiveness of various campaign activities. AI can track everything from advertising to canvassing and events, providing insights into what’s working and what’s not. Campaigns can make data-driven decisions to optimize their strategies and maximize their impact.

But that’s not all. AI isn’t just about understanding voters; it’s also about understanding the money. It can track campaign spending by identifying discrepancies and patterns in politicians’ spending habits. This is crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability in the political process. AI-powered auditing tools can streamline the financial oversight process, making it more efficient and accurate.

Let’s remember the advantage it gives political parties in opposition research. AI can dig deep into opponents’ voting records and past statements, providing valuable insights to gain a competitive edge.

However, there’s a darker side to AI in politics. Privacy and ethical concerns loom large. For instance, using AI to gather and analyze personal voter data raises serious privacy and data protection issues. We’re talking about your personal information, and the potential for misusing it should not be underestimated.

Moreover, there’s the unsettling prospect of AI making political campaigns more deceptive. AI can be used to create fake images and audio. I am sure you know about deepfakes, which are synthetic media that appear to be real but are actually manipulated. Such powerful methods can be employed to launch misleading campaign ads targeting other candidates. AI can be used to spread disinformation and propaganda. Governments and powerful elites can use AI to standardize, control, or repress political discourse, undermining the fairness and quality of political discourse.

AI algorithms can inadvertently perpetuate existing biases. For instance, if the data used to train the AI is biased, the AI’s outputs can also be unfair. This can lead to unjust targeting of specific demographics or communities. Indeed, it’s a digital battleground where authenticity can be blurred, and the line between fact and fiction becomes hazy.

But then, AI can bring several benefits to political campaigns beyond tracking costs and conducting opposition research.

Here are some potential benefits:

  • Enhancing Communication: AI can improve communication by providing personalized messages to voters. It can analyze the preferences and behaviors of individual voters and tailor the communication accordingly. This can lead to more effective campaigns and better engagement with voters.
  • Improving Campaign Strategy: AI can analyze large amounts of data to identify trends and patterns that can inform campaign strategy. This can help campaigns anticipate potential challenges and develop effective responses.
  • Facilitating Transparency: AI can help campaigns maintain transparency by objectively analyzing their activities. This can help campaigns manage their reputation and respond to criticisms effectively.
  • Generating Political Messaging: AI can generate political messaging based on public discourse, campaign rhetoric, and political reporting. This can help campaigns develop effective messaging strategies and reach a wider audience.
  • Creating Political Parties: AI could be used to develop political parties with their platforms, attracting human candidates who win elections. This could revolutionize the political landscape by creating new political parties based on AI-generated platforms.
  • Fundraising: AI is capable of fundraising for political campaigns. It could take a seed investment from a human controlling the AI and invest it to yield a return. It could start a business that generates revenue or political messaging to convince humans to spend their own money on a defined campaign or cause.

It’s intriguing, isn’t it? The world of AI in politics is both a boon and a minefield. It can empower campaigns and voters but also carries risks of manipulation and deception. As we continue to explore the vast landscape of AI in politics, it’s crucial to tread carefully, adhere to ethical guidelines, and protect personal data from unauthorized access.

So, the next time you follow a political campaign, remember that behind the scenes, AI might be at work, shaping the discourse, analyzing voter sentiment, and, in some cases, creating an illusion of reality. How AI and politics interact is a complex and evolving story, and it’s up to all of us to stay informed, vigilant, and engaged in this digital age of politics. The journey is far from over, and the questions are still unfolding. What will we discover next?

©2024. Amil Imani. All rights reserved.

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