The 4 Biggest Storms Looming in Congress’s Return

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If there’s one thing this Congress has going for it, it’s that they can’t possibly match the futility of 2023. (Or can they?) After one of the most dramatic — but unproductive — years ever, members are returning to Washington next week with a much longer to-do list and an even more unforgiving calendar to accomplish it. Thanks to the deep hole members dug with the drama over the speakership, there’s a lot of ground to make up in actual legislating in this young year. And unfortunately for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the second half of this term promises plenty of fireworks right off the bat.

1. Stopping a Government Shutdown

It wouldn’t be January (or February, March, April…) if the threat of a government shutdown wasn’t hanging over both parties’ heads. While Johnson did his best to buy Congress more time, passing a clever two-tiered bridge to 2024 in November, the clock has already started ticking on the first of those “laddered” deadlines: January 19. That’s when government funding is set to expire for a handful of agencies, including Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration; Energy and Water Development; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Republicans will have their hands full getting everyone on board with a slew of targeted spending cuts in those areas, especially when there are plenty of non-fiscal issues — like abortion — complicating matters. In the Agriculture debate alone, the GOP’s cracks started showing back in September, when a band of pro-choice Republicans sank the bill over commonsense protections on chemical abortion. If even a handful defect now, it’ll spell disaster for Johnson’s already fragile coalition.

As the Heritage Foundation’s Connor Semelsberger laments, nothing about the GOP’s proposals are controversial. “The language in question would simply undo Biden’s actions to remove existing health and safety protocols that ensure every woman who is prescribed chemical abortion pills receives them in person from a medical professional rather than through the mail or from a pharmacy.” Ironically, he went on, “these health and safety protocols that Republicans are seeking to reinstate in this bill are the ones first established in 2016 under the Obama-Biden administration.”

As if Johnson doesn’t have enough to contend with in his caucus, this bloc of rebel Republicans seems intent on fighting every appropriations bill that tries to roll back the Biden administration’s unconstitutional overreach on abortion.

Negotiations get even stickier for hardline conservatives, who are determined to slash the government’s budgets, regardless of their razor-thin majority. Republicans like Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), one of the drivers of the HUD and Transportation budget, hinted at the heavy lift ahead. “It’s going to be very difficult to get all of the appropriations bills we have to get done in time if we don’t have the [top-line] number, and we don’t have the number right now. So, we’re going to have to make some tough decisions in early January.”

While the House has done some legwork, passing seven of the 12 appropriations bills, the two chambers have radically different ideas of what the proposals should look like — and hashing through those differences will take more time than Congress currently has. That leaves Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and the leadership of both parties with a few options: a) They can let portions of the government shut down while they take the necessary time to debate the bills; b) they can pass a dreaded omnibus package that crams all of the remaining budgets into one (an idea Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., called “unacceptable”); c) Johnson moves forward with a longer continuing resolution, giving Congress a longer runway to finish the job (something he’s already panned in the press); or d) both chambers buckle down and do their jobs before the January 19 and February 2 targets.

With just eight legislative days until the first buzzer, everyone can agree: the path forward on appropriations is murkier than ever.

2. Ukraine and Israeli Aid Meet the Border Crisis

Without a government shutdown to contend with, the battle over Ukraine funding managed to suck up most of the Hill’s holiday air. In a rare show of unity, Republicans stuck to their guns on this one, refusing to give in to President Biden’s demand for billions more dollars in aid until he agrees to close the southern border. Ultimately, the two sides left town without a resolution, kicking the can into 2024.

Since then, U.S. officials have announced a record 300,000 migrant crossings in December — obliterating the previous highwater mark from September. December’s tally brings the total for the first quarter of FY2024 to over 785,000, an eye-popping number that’s sent local officials in Texas and Arizona scrambling. As Fox News’s Bill Melugin pointed out, that’s “a population size bigger than Seattle in just three months.”

As Americans become increasingly angry about the situation, even Democrats are starting to break with the president. Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was openly critical, urging the White House to get off its hands and do something. “Honestly, it’s astonishing,” he said. “And this isn’t a Fox News kind of statistic. This is the government’s. … I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border. It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”

With public opinion on their side, Republicans enter 2024 with a stronger hand to make the necessary reforms. As recently as Friday, Senate negotiators were talking through more options, as Biden repeated his call for more help in Volodymyr Zelensky’s fight against Russia.

Mired in this back-and-forth is any financial assistance for Israel, which has yet to receive U.S. aid since the October 7 attacks. The House passed a standalone bill to funnel $14 billion dollars to our Middle East ally — only to meet a brick wall in the Democratically-controlled Senate.

While Biden has hinted at his willingness to “compromise,” Johnson has pushed for him to prove his sincerity through executive actions that would stop the lax asylum policy and start rebuilding the wall. Meanwhile, senators are returning to D.C. more convinced than ever that Ukraine comes second to our own national security problems.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made it clear that Biden needs to “accept the idea that we’re full.” “Take the tools we’re willing to give you to stop the inflow” of migrants on the U.S.-southern border, including deportations, and “you’ll turn things around pretty quickly” and “we’ll get money for Ukraine,” he insisted on “Face the Nation” Sunday. As much as he and other leaders want to help Ukraine, the reality, Graham argued, is that our border “is not broken, it is in chaos.”

3. Joe Biden Impeachment Inquiry

Before heading home for Christmas, House Republicans were on the same page about one thing: a formal impeachment inquiry into the current president. In a shift from earlier in the year, every GOP member, including the chamber’s moderates, voted to approve the move to intensify the investigation into Joe Biden’s influence peddling. “The White House is seeking to block key testimony from current and former White House staff,” Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) argued. “It is also withholding thousands of records from Joe Biden’s time as Vice President. President Biden must be held accountable for his lies, corruption, and obstruction. We have a duty to provide the accountability and transparency that Americans demand and deserve.”

As evidence continues to mount that then-Vice President Biden not only knew about his son Hunter’s business dealings but was actively involved in them, the National Archives prepared to release 62,000 pages of damning documents to Comer that included “emails by Joe Biden under secret aliases and records tied to his son …”

In a lawyerly op-ed for USA Today, Speaker Johnson insisted the charges against Biden “must be addressed.” Unlike the Democrats’ witch hunt against Donald Trump, the speaker made it clear that House Republicans “will not prejudge this investigation; we will depose witnesses, gather evidence, establish a thorough record and present Articles of Impeachment only if the evidentiary record dictates such action.”

The American people “have a right to know whether the president — through his family — traded official acts for foreign dollars, whether the president is compromised, and whether Joe Biden abused his power as president to impede or obstruct the investigation into Hunter Biden,” Johnson continued. “As we have done all along, House Republicans will continue to follow the facts where they lead.”

4. The Ever-Shrinking GOP Majority

If people thought Kevin McCarthy walked a tightrope as speaker, it’s nothing compared to the threadbare majority his successor faces. With the early departure of McCarthy and the expulsion of New York’s George Santos, the House GOP enters 2024 a hair’s breadth away from the minority. With those losses — and no guarantee that either special election will yield a Republican replacement — Johnson now has just 220 members to his credit, a wafer-thin three-vote majority.

For a party already battered by 2023 infighting, holding everyone together on key votes was already a herculean task. “Hopefully no one dies,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green half-joked on Twitter. But she isn’t wrong. If even a few members peel off of any given bill, Johnson will need Democrats to make up the difference — hardly a recipe for conservative success.

“It’s going to be very difficult for any speaker to satisfy everybody in Congress,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) warned. “It might make it more difficult on Speaker Johnson, trying to maintain his majority.”

That task got even harder with Rep. Bill Johnson’s (R-Ohio) official resignation Tuesday. His departure date, January 21, will bring Speaker Johnson’s working majority to just two.

And the implications for November shouldn’t be lost on Republicans, experts warn. As FRC Action’s Matt Carpenter told The Washington Stand, “The nation is heading into what promises to be a bruising election cycle, and candidates will be looking for every advantage they can to win their elections. The biggest advantage is incumbency. Some estimates show incumbents have a 94% re-election rate, so retirements mean open seats in 2024, and open seats are how congressional majorities are won or lost. A candidate can raise vast sums of money, knock on every door in the district, and make all the promises in the world,” Carpenter explained, and “they still have an uphill climb against an incumbent. The current House majority is built on a historically slim margin, so every retirement makes the job of Republicans to retain the speaker’s gavel that much harder.”

“This place is a pressure cooker,” Johnson admitted at a press conference before the end of last year. But based on what’s facing House Republicans, he hasn’t seen anything yet.

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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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.

CORRUPTION: Convicted Election Ballot Harvester Gloria Torres Appointed Vice-Mayor in San Luis, Arizona

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Convicted ballot harvester, Gloria Torres, has been appointed as the new Vice Mayor of San Luis, Arizona. She pled guilty to ballot abuse in June 2023. Torres will be involved in the 2024 election.

Conviction should preclude ANY future in politics. But the Democrats are the criminal party. They lie, cheat and steal – it’s how they roll. They don’t punish criminal behavior, they reward it.

Gloria Lopez Torres of San Luis was convicted of with conspiracy and ballot abuse on Oct. 3, Under state law, ballot harvesting is considered a class 6 felony; convictions usually carry a penalty of up to two years in prison and up to a $150,000 fine.

Torres was a San Luis City Council member at the time, according to local media.

Convicted Ballot Harvester Gloria Torres Named San Luis Vice-Mayor

By: Arizona Daily Independent, January 1, 2024:

Convicted ballot harvester, Gloria Torres, has been appointed as the new Vice Mayor of San Luis, Arizona.

Torres, who was appointed during the regular city council meeting on December 13, pleaded guilty to ballot abuse in June 2023.

Torres and Nadia Guadalupe Lizarraga-Mayorquin a/k/a Nadia Buchanan were indicted in October 2022, on two Class 6 felonies of conspiracy and ballot abuse stemming from a two-year long investigation by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office with assistance from the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.

The ballot harvesting activities were exposed by two Yuma County men, David Lara, and Gary Garcia Snyder, through hidden video surveillance outside a San Luis polling station in July 2020. Former San Luis mayor Guillermina Fuentes and local resident Alma Yadira Juarez were convicted in 2022 in part based on the video evidence.

Council Member Matias Rosales, a candidate for the Arizona House of Representative, quickly seconded former Vice Mayor Luis E. Cabrera’s recommendation to appoint Torres as Vice Mayor. Torres’ appointment was approved on a 4-3 vote of the Council.

Rosales is hoping to unseat the popular Republican House incumbent, Michele Peña.

Torres has been a source of controversy for years, say her critics, since first being elected to the San Luis City Council in 2000.

While Torres served on the Gadsden Elementary School District #32 Governing Board, the Arizona Auditor General’s May 2020 performance audit found the District “paid employees for time not worked, limited public access to some Governing Board (Board) meetings and wasted $65,000 on unnecessary travel, and lacked oversight of its transportation program.”

In April 2023, Arizona State House Chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Representative Matt Gress, and the House Education Chairwoman Representative Beverly Pingerelli questioned why the District had not corrected “several glaring accountability features which directly led to previous fraud in the district.”

The two Representatives noted that the failure of the district leadership allowed an employee to steal roughly $8,000.

The employee was eventually caught and sentenced to three years’ probation.

Torres’ guilty plea to ballot abuse resulted in probation as well. Torres was placed on twenty-four months of “supervised probation in accordance with the formal judgment and had to report to Adult Probation on the day of her sentencing.

Garcia Snyder, who is running for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 25, said, “I am both outraged and disappointed that a convicted ballot abuser has been elevated to this leadership position. The fact that a majority of the Council appears to have so little regard for our laws is an insult to residents, particularly in the Latino community. We are tired of this type of corruption and the Democrats so blatantly parading it in our faces.”

Keep reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Trump Appeals Decision Kicking Him Off Maine Ballot

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

Democrat Senator Ben Cardin Blocks Bill To Sanction Iranian Leaders for Human Rights Abuses

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The Democrats are the party of jihad and Jew hatred.

“Senate Democrats are delaying Israel aid while refusing to sanction Iran, the leading state backer of terrorism and the sworn enemy of Israel.”

Cardin Blocks Bipartisan Bill To Sanction Iranian Leaders for Human Rights Abuses

By: Adam Kredo, WFB, January 2, 2024

Democratic senator Ben Cardin (Md.) is blocking the upper chamber from advancing a bipartisan bill that would sanction Iran’s leadership for its role in mass human rights crimes, prompting outrage among Iranian-American dissidents who have been lobbying in favor of the legislation for months.

Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, informed activists at the end of last year that he would not be moving forward with the MAHSA Act, named after 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was killed by Tehran’s morality police in September 2022. Amini’s death sparked nationwide protests that are still percolating more than a year later.

The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House last year with more than 400 votes, would sanction Iran’s supreme leader and his inner circle for decades of human rights abuses. Those include the murder and torture of anti-regime dissidents, including those detained by the country’s security forces for protesting Amini’s murder.

As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s head, Cardin has the power to stall the bill and prevent it from coming up for a full vote in the chamber. The senator’s office in a Dec. 21 email informed Iranian-American activists of the decision. Cardin’s decision to delay the legislation prompted outrage among Iranian dissidents, who have been championing the bill as a centerpiece of their efforts to increase American pressure on the Islamic Republic.

“At this time, our office will not be moving forward with this bill,” Cardin’s staff wrote to Iranian-American activist Nick Nikbakht, who shared the correspondence on X, formerly Twitter.

“Killing innocent civilians in Israel, Ukraine & Iran is not enough for Cardin,” Nikbakht wrote alongside a screenshot of the email, which was sent to the activist after more than 100 of the senator’s constituents organized a joint letter in support for the MAHSA Act.

Nikbakht said that he and other Iranian-American activists met with Cardin’s office, as well as other senators from both sides of the aisle, to garner support for the sanctions bill. The activists were trying to ensure that the bill made its way through the Senate after it received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House. These efforts, Nikbakht said, are now stalled because of Cardin.

“Despite the persistent advocacy, multiple meetings, and heartfelt pleas by Maryland constituents who sent letters, we’ve seen no movement from Senator Cardin and, more recently, been informed that they will not be moving forward with the bipartisan human rights bill,” Nikbakht told the Free Beacon.

It is unclear why Cardin is blocking the bill. His office did not respond to a Washington Free Beacon request for comment on the matter.

Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), one of the MAHSA Act’s sponsors in the House, said that with Hamas waging war against Israel with primary support from Iran, now is the time to hold the Islamist regime’s leaders accountable.

“Senate Democrats are delaying Israel aid while refusing to sanction Iran, the leading state backer of terrorism and the sworn enemy of Israel,” Banks told the Free Beacon. “We’re letting our enemies off the hook and leaving our allies in the lurch. It’s a recipe for chaos.”

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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

The Republican Led Congress and our new $34 Trillion Debt

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The tax and spend Communists in the Democrat minority and the Republican majority controlled Congress have just spent us into a $34 trillion dollar U.S. national debt. Congratulations.

This is a history making event that our great grandchildren will still be trying to get a handle on unless immediate action is undertaken to fix it.

Forty years ago during the Reagan Administration with a somewhat conservative congress our national debt was simmering at around $907 billion. Nothing to really be concerned about.

Back then we did not have a raging communist bottom feeding criminal cockroach insurgency in our Congress, Senate and White House trying to collapse our free market capitalist constitutional republic.

The solution to this out of control hemorrhaging of our financial stability is a complete government shutdown. Seriously it’s time to close the government down. SHUT IT DOWN !

We must abandon these weak panther piss Republican Continuing Resolutions (CRs) and let’s feel some real economic pain to wake up the country.

The national debt is going to double to over $68 trillion over the next three decades, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

What is the Republican congress (that controls expenditures from the Treasury Dept.)doing right now too reign in this insanity? NOTHING ! The interest payments alone on this debt will be over $5 trillion.

At the end of 2022, the national debt grew to about 97% of gross domestic product. This was a result of a massive Communist insurgency in our government initiated by national mail on voter ballot fraud by both political parties but mainly by the criminal Democrats and permitted by a lazy general public not paying attention to the issues.

The current inept, despicable low IQ Republican led congress that control expenditures from the Treasury Dept. is still allowing the national debt to exceed expand reaching 181% by December 2053. This is criminal and it must be resolved sooner rather than later.

This unacceptable spending and printing of money could result in a possible forced removal of these elected officials by “We the people” as per written US constitutional governance scribed on paper by the Founding Fathers.

The Congress and the Senate after the 2024 elections need to fix this financial disaster or they will probably face an insurrection that will be real this time.

Not just a capital police tour guide of the Capital Building for American patriots now being held as Biden’s Political prisoners.

My opinion.

©2023. Geoff Ross. All rights reserved.

BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM 2023: OUTRAGE: The Life and Times of Al Katz

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OUTRAGE: The Life and Times of Al Katz, winner of the World Cinema Awards for BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM, is the powerful story of the life of the real hero who survived seven years as a Jewish slave in Nazi Europe at the beginning of his life and 70 years later survived human bondage as an elder Ward in Florida’s vast abusive professional guardianship industry along with tens of thousands kept in isolation until their miserable deaths ensue.

As a Jewish slave in his youth, Al Katz was forced into many concentration camps across Europe, starving and working outdoors in frigid conditions of 52 degrees below zero with little clothing; yet, he always kept his faith and knew that he had to survive to warn the world of the depravity of antisemitism.  As a Jewish Ward of the State of Florida, Al Katz once again lost everything – his belongings, house of worship, and all civil rights, trapped in isolation for months, while being forbidden from visits, calls, cards, letters, and all contacts with his family.

Al Katz’s life is an exclusive look into a unique life lived in two worlds of human depravity, unseen and unknown by the masses, and the extraordinary courage to survive with faith in the face of fear and unimaginable terror.  OUTRAGE, winner of the BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM, will inspire audiences around the world as a once-in-a-lifetime movie of miracles and monsters, hero and unbearable sorrow.

OUTRAGE, by award-winning filmmaker, Stan Moore, has also been nominated for numerous other awards across the globe, including BEST JUSTICE FILM.  Al Katz’s story is featured in the book, Florida Guardianships: Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die? by Dr. Beverly Newman and in the Holocaust education book series, Holocaust Babies, sold in bookstores around the world.

For interviews, book and film orders, and community and school presentations, contact Dr. Beverly Newman, helpelders@hotmail.com.

©2023. All rights reserved.

PODCAST: A predictable “earthquake” – Surrendering our sovereignty to the WHO

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A devastating earthquake in Japan yesterday may symbolize a New Year marred by geostrategic tectonic shifts. Some are predictable – and their effects can, therefore, be attenuated if we act in time.

Consider the creation of so-called “global governance” mechanisms that would subordinate us to the dictates of unaccountable international entities like the World Health Organization.

Largely secret negotiations are expected by May to produce agreements that will give the WHO the authority to declare what constitutes a public health emergency here – and what must be done about it. Three Biden administration officials appear to have perjured themselves in testifying last month that would not diminish our sovereignty.

The House of Representatives has voted to cut off funding for the WHO and require Senate approval of any such accords. To prevent irreparable harm to our public health – and America, Congress must concur.

This is Frank Gaffney.

AUTHOR

Frank Gaffney, Jr.

Founder and Executive Chairman

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy podcast is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Netherlands: What They Teach in Islamic Schools

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To be clear, any Islamic school teaches Islamic scripture. Islamic scripture is in essence, jingoism against the unbeliever. Motivating pep talks to kill, conquer and impose sharia law. So these kinds of videos are problematic only in that it allows people to think they are “extremist” or in some way an outlier. This is Islam in the Netherlands, and everywhere.

Netherlands: Islamic Schools Ban Muslim Children From Befriending Jews and Christians, Teach Non-Believers Should Be Killed (Video)

The impact of these violent and dangerous Islamic teachings is not confined to the walls of these schools. It spills over into society, contributing to a troubling rise in Islamic-driven antisemitic and anti-Christian incidents and threats against public figures critical of Islam.

In a concerning report from 2019, primarily overlooked by Western media, investigations by Nieuwsuur and NRC Handelsblad have brought to light a disturbing trend in Islamic “schools” across the Netherlands. This report unveils a scenario where young Muslim minds are being steeped in Islamic doctrines of violence, hate, and intolerance, deceptively presented to Westerners under the guise of “peaceful” religious education.

A World Apart: The Rise of Salafism in Dutch Education

In a parallel educational universe, thousands of Muslim children in the Netherlands attend Islamic lessons outside the regular educational system. These institutions, deeply influenced by Salafism—a fundamentalist Islamic movement—are propagating Islamic teachings utterly incompatible with Western values and principles. Salafists — who follow what they say was the original Islam practiced in the 7th and 8th centuries — openly state that they want to replace democracy in the West (and the rest of the world) with an Islamic government based on Sharia law. Nieuwsuur and NRC’s investigation found that at least 50 schools exhibit strong Salafist Islamic influences, shaping the outlook and beliefs of the young Muslim students enrolled.

The Dangerous Curriculum: From Isolation to Extremism

The curriculum in these Salafist schools is deeply concerning. Muslim students are taught to distance themselves from non-Muslims, receiving explicit instructions against befriending Jews or Christians. This divisive approach is not just theoretical; it’s ingrained in the educational material. For instance, in a religious textbook for 15-year-olds, students encounter a question about the response to someone who denies one of the Islamic pillars. The prescribed answer is execution for being a non-believer.

These teachings extend beyond social isolation. Students are indoctrinated with strict guidelines on interacting with non-Muslims, emphasizing an ideology of separation and superiority. They are instructed against basic acts like feeding non-Muslims or extending greetings during Christian festivals. Acknowledging these holidays is depicted as a more severe sin than congratulating someone who drinks alcohol.

The explicitness and depth of these Islamic teachings are alarming, focusing on instilling avoidance of any form of friendship or interaction with non-Muslims. This extensive emphasis on divisiveness highlights the insidious nature of Islamic teachings.

Furthermore, the worldview instilled in these Muslim students contrasts sharply with Western society’s principles of tolerance, equality, and freedom. Stemming from Islamic doctrine, these teachings promote a sense of Islamic supremacy and intolerance. Children are also taught to distinguish themselves from non-Muslims in aspects like clothing, further avoiding any interaction with Western culture or its people.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Vlad Tepes Blog column posted by Eeyore is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Biden Admin Watered Down Vetting Process For Chinese Illegal Immigrants, Email Shows

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The Biden administration drastically simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants in April 2023, according to an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The April 2023 email, which was sent by a CBP supervisor to a “master list” of about 500 Border Patrol agents, instructs CBP officials to radically reduce the number of interview questions for Chinese migrants apprehended after illegally crossing into the country from roughly 40 to just five. The “headquarters guidance” came as border agents were overwhelmed with near-record numbers of illegal crossings.

This scaling back of the interview process fast-tracked the releasing of Chinese illegal immigrants into the U.S. while making it more difficult for CBP agents to identify national security threats, J.J. Carrell, a retired CBP deputy patrol agent in charge, told the DCNF after reviewing the email.

“This policy change has accelerated the time it takes to process Chinese illegal immigrants — this doesn’t make America safer,” Carrell said. “The final result is that dangerous Chinese illegal immigrants will still be released into the U.S.”

“This is just the government covering their ass, so they can say they vetted,” said Carrell. “I believe the government recognizes the threat of Chinese soldiers and spies that are pouring into America, and they want to try and identify these individuals. However, the same government does not want to stop the flow of illegal aliens or Chinese nationals — just the ‘bad ones,’ which is impossible.

While previously agents might spend hours vetting a single Chinese illegal immigrant, the new guidance simplifies the vetting process by reducing the number of questions that agents are required to ask, thereby speeding up the flow of Chinese illegal immigrants into the U.S., Carrell said.

The former law enforcement official who provided the email to the DCNF said human smuggling operations quickly adapted to these new guidelines, coaching Chinese illegal immigrants on how to answer CBP’s shorter list of questions.

“It was almost immediate where [the Chinese illegal immigrants] knew what to say and what not to say,” said the former official, who requested anonymity in fear of U.S. government retribution.

Carrell described smuggling operations as “highly coordinated.” He told the DCNF that illegal immigrants are “coached from the beginning of the journey.”

“The stories are identical,” Carrell said. “The streets and the names they use just differ because of the nations they’re from.”

The April 2023 CBP email also states that Chinese illegal immigrants who pass field agents’ five “basic questions” may be released into the U.S. interior.

“If they do not alert to the above, there is no requirement to further delay current processing pathway — NTA/OR,” the email states.

“NTA/OR” is an abbreviation for “Notice to Appear” / “Order of Recognizance,” according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In practice, this allows Chinese illegal immigrants entry into the U.S. with a court date several years down the road, the former official said. By November 2023, the backlog of U.S. immigration court cases topped three million, signifying an all-time high.

Since 2022, Border Patrol has encountered approximately 35,000 Chinese illegal immigrants at the border, according to CBP data. Between 2022 and 2023, Border Patrol encounters with Chinese illegal immigrants surged over 1,000%, according to government records.

After answering agents’ “basic questions,” Chinese illegal immigrants are “sent out wherever they go, whether that’s contracted through Catholic Charities or other nonprofits,” the former official said.

‘Basic Questions’

The new guidance directs agents to ask five “basic questions” concerning “Military Service,” “Universities,” “POB/Region,” “Employment” and “Political Party.” All the questions are aimed at determining whether or not a Chinese illegal immigrant poses a national security threat, the former official told the DCNF.

“They’re really trying to see their ties to either terrorism or the government itself,” the former official said.

Questions regarding “Military Service,” “Universities,” “Employment” and “Political Party” are meant to tease out potential ties to the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party or Chinese military. The question on “POB/Region” relates to terrorism, the former official told the DCNF.

“If there is a Yes to any of the above, they are then referred and transported to [redacted] for an in-depth interview by Tactical Terrorism Response Team,” the April 2023 email states.

The Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) is “part of the sector intelligence unit,” which is responsible for conducting in-depth questioning for Chinese illegal immigrants with potential terror or Chinese government ties, the former official said.

“Think of TTRT as the vetting unit before an individual is determined to be a national security risk or a terrorist,” Carrell, the former CBP agent, told the DCNF. “If TTRT determines that the individual is a security risk, that individual is turned over to Joint Terrorism Task Force for further investigation and deportation.”

Despite these concerns, DHS’s Special Interest Alien (SIA) list does not include immigrants from China.

SIA are defined as a “non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests,” according to DHS. “Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.”

‘Bogged Down’

The vetting system for Chinese illegal immigrants in place prior to the April 2023 email was overwhelmed by the recent surge in crossings at the southern border, the former law enforcement official told the DCNF.

Under the previous system, it took up to four hours to process Chinese illegal immigrants, the former official told the DCNF.

“At the very beginning, what was happening was either at the station level — if they couldn’t get them to the processing center if it was too bogged down — or at the sector level at the processing center, the agent would then have to go through a long list of questions and it was taking almost four hours per person,” the former official said.

Carrell said the CBP vetting process was far more stringent for Chinese illegal immigrants during the Trump administration.

“If I received a Chinese national, we’d input them into the DHS database, look through [the National Crime Information Center] for criminal history in America — and nine times out of 10 these people have never been in America — so they’ll come back clean,” Carrell told the DCNF. “I would then set that individual up for deportation and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] would fly him or her back to China. Never in a million years would I then process that Chinese national and then just release them into America.”

“Now, that person would be interviewed, put into the database and then just simply street-released,” Carrell said.

The DCNF reviewed a copy of CBP’s longer questionnaire for Chinese illegal immigrants, which the former official also shared.

While field agents are no longer required to vet Chinese illegal immigrants using the longer questionnaire of approximately 40 questions, TTRT still uses that questionnaire to vet those who’ve failed the five “basic questions,” the former official said.

In addition to the five “basic questions,” CBP’s longer questionnaire further directs agents to ask Chinese illegal immigrants about “prior arrests,” the “handling of weapons/firearms,” “smuggling fees,” and various other matters.

DHS and CBP did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

AUTHOR

PHILIP LENCZYCKI

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

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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 Admin Caught And Released Enough Illegal Immigrants At The Border To Fill More Than 17 Yankee Stadiums

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  • There were enough illegal immigrants caught and released into the country in 2023 to fill more than 17 Yankee Stadiums, according to federal data.
  • Not a single year of encounters under the two previous presidential administrations came close to what federal authorities recorded in 2023, according to the data.
  • “In retrospect, 2023 at the border was a progressively worse version of 2022,” former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The number of illegal immigrants caught and released into the country in 2023 would be enough to fill Yankee Stadium more than 17 times, according to federal data.

Border Patrol recorded more than 1.7 million encounters with migrants crossing the southern border illegally in 2023, with more than 824,000 released into the interior of the country with future court appearances, according to the data, which doesn’t account for December. Yankee Stadium has the capacity to hold 46,537 people, according to Ticketmaster.

Federal authorities at the southern border also seized more than 229,000 pounds of drugs, roughly 22,000 pounds of which were fentanyl.

During the Obama and Trump administrations, not a single year reached one million encounters, according to federal data.

“In retrospect, 2023 at the border was a progressively worse version of 2022,” former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Biden continued to double down on his failed border policies, illegal immigration continued skyrocketing to unimaginable levels, the cartels made more money than most people can fathom with less risk than at anytime in history, Customs and Border Protection suspended legal trade and travel to decrease the time in custody for illegal aliens, and the US Border Patrol shut down checkpoints and deployed nearly zero proactive patrols.”

“Biden’s only response was to send Mayorkas and Blinken to Mexico and asks them to control their border,” he said.

The House Homeland Security Committee is preparing to conduct impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas early in the new year, a committee staffer recently told the DCNF.

“The Biden Administration is breaking records everyday and none of them are good. Enough. Time to impeach Mayorkas. No more excuses. This country needs action now,” Homan said.

Despite the record flows of illegal migrants across the southern border, ICE has left thousands of detention beds empty, according to the DCNF’s previous review of agency data. As of Dec. 11, ICE had seven individuals on average in custody each day at its processing center in Adelanto, California, where there is bed space for 640 people, according to agency data.

Court orders limit ICE’s use of bed space in the California facility to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The situation is only expected to worsen in the coming year, J.J. Carrell, who served as a deputy patrol agent in charge for Border Patrol, told the DCNF.

“We have never experienced this type of invasion in the history of America,” Carrell said. “And when you look at the totality of the data, meaning Special Interest Aliens, Russian nationals, Chinese nationals, terrorists, criminal aliens, major cities crumbling, social welfare, states of emergencies, I believe that when we look back on 2023 from the viewpoint of 2024, I think 2023 is gonna look tame, and that’s scary. I think that should scare America.”

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

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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.

‘Happy New Queer’: Public Library Set To Kick Off New Year With 6 Drag Performances

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A public library in Alaska will hold a winter celebration of all things LGBTQ on January 6th featuring a drag queen story hour for children billed as “Happy New Queer,” the Alaska Watchman reported.

The event, scheduled to be held at the Soldotna Public Library, will feature six “guest drag performers,” including one openly gay man whose drag stage name is “Ivanna Kischacok,” according to the Alaska Watchman.

“Ivanna Kischacok,” otherwise known as Andrew Castelli, wears a blonde wig and has jewels falling into his dress’s fake cleavage, according to cntravler.com. He also dons ball gowns, feathers, corsets and thigh-high boots, the website reported.

The drag queen story hour is being organized by an LGBTQ activist group called Soldotna Pride and will be part of a day-long celebration including a performance at a local grocery store and a “Queer Karaoke” event at a bar, the Alaska Watchman reported.

Although the library included a disclaimer in the event announcement that reads the library “does not endorse these materials or viewpoints expressed in them,” it also encourages residents to “Bring the whole family to Soldotna Library from 11-12 pm for Drag Story Hour featuring stories read by Joe Royal Spady, local author: W.B. Clark and our incredible guest drag readers!” according to the Alaska Watchman.

Soldotna Pride has targeted youth in the past, including an event last year that ignited controversy after a video of an Anchorage drag queen apparently showing a man in a miniskirt and thong twerking in front of young children went viral, the newspaper reported. Another video shows the same drag queen gyrating in a leather miniskirt in front of minors, according to the publication.

Must Read Alaska claims the Soldotna Library event is “misogynistic-themed” and reports that “parents who want to steer clear” of the drag event can attend more traditional read-aloud story hours at a local hardware store on Saturday mornings.

AUTHOR

DANA ABIZAID

Contributor.

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‘Double Down On Bidenomics’: We Asked Political Insiders What Joe Biden’s New Year’s Resolutions Should Be

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With a fresh year ahead and the presidential election in sight, both Republican and Democratic strategists have suggestions for what New Year’s resolutions President Joe Biden should make.

Biden is exiting 2023 with floundering poll numbers that show the president has a low approval rating and is trailing in hypothetical matchups between him and former President Donald Trump both nationally and in key swing states. In an effort to turn things around — or to keep the president on the same decline — Republican and Democratic strategists suggested Biden play into his age, focus on Bidenomics and stay “calm.”

“I think using his age, you know, ‘I’m old, but that means I’m seasoned and wise in the ways of the world. I offer calm. The Republicans offer chaos.’ I think that’s the best contrast he can make,” Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, told the Daily Caller, when saying Biden should make it a resolution to stay composed throughout the year.

During 2023, concerns about the 81-year-old’s fitness for office have risen in the polls, partly due to various repeated debunked stories and slip-ups. A majority of Americans believe that Biden is both mentally and physically unfit to serve effectively as president, according to a November George Washington University and YouGov poll.

Biden committed several mishaps throughout the year, including once praising the “Congressional Black Caucus” while giving a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual gala. While honoring the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Biden claimed that he was at Ground Zero the day after the terrorist attack. The White House failed to provide evidence to back up Biden’s claim, instead pointing to a trip to the site the president made several weeks later.

Leslie Marshall echoed Bannon’s resolution, encouraging the president to play into his age and harness it through the election year.

“Some people will be like, don’t don’t highlight his age. I’m sure they tell him ‘Mr. President, jog up the stairs.’ You know what I’m saying?” Marshall told the Daily Caller.

“We all trip, I don’t care what age you are. Make light of it. Use it. Use it to his advantage,” Marshall continued.

Aside from concerns about the president’s age, Biden and his administration have faced backlash for their messaging surrounding the president’s economic policies, more commonly known as “Bidenomics.” While the White House continues to claim the economy is improving, even saying that Thanksgiving in 2023 was one of the cheapest ever, the American people are not convinced. Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults said in September that the economy is in a “fair” or “poor” state while sixty-one percent of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Democrats previously warned the administration that the messaging was not working with some even begging the White House to drop “Bidenomics” out of fear that the aggressive push of a booming economy may be upsetting Americans who are struggling.

“I hope he resolves to double down on Bidenomics,” Sean Spicer, host of the Sean Spicer podcast and former chairman for the RNC’s Temporary Committee on Presidential Debates, told the Daily Caller.

“Keep up the good work with oil and gas production in the United States,” Mike McKenna, GOP consultant and MWR Strategies president, told the Daily Caller.

Other GOP strategists suggested that Biden secure the border or take action against members of the administration who protested the president’s pro-Israel stance.

“Fire all the kids who work for him and protested him on his own front lawn,” Scott Jennings, a longtime GOP adviser in Kentucky and veteran of numerous campaigns, told the Daily Caller. “Fire. Them. All.”

Since Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel, Biden has committed his support to the country throughout its war on the terrorist organization. Biden’s unwavering support of the country has come under fire from members of his administration and allies within his own party. Several members of the Biden administration gathered outside of the White House on Dec. 13 to protest the president’s backing of Israel, the Hill reported.

“President Biden, your staff demands a ceasefire,” a sign held by staffers read.

Others thought the president should take notes from the front runner in the 2024 presidential race.

“President Biden’s New Year’s resolutions should be reinforcing the policies from the Trump administration,” Hilton Beckham, communications director for America First Policy Institute, told the Daily Caller. “Reinstating America First principles that empowered citizens economically, ensured community safety, and fortified our porous borders would be a step toward regaining public trust and steering our country back on the right track — away from the chaos created by the Far Left and their destructive policies.”

While seemingly everyone in politics has input on how the president should spend 2024, Biden weighed in Saturday on what his New Year’s resolution is.

“To come back next year,” Biden said while vacationing in St. Croix.

Among serious resolutions touching on hot topics, some offered a bit of humor when suggesting New Year’s resolutions for the president.

“[Biden should] resolve to finally learn which direction the Oval Office is, so when he’s done reading prepared remarks in billboard sized fonts, he doesn’t change directions like a presidential roomba,” Mark R. Weaver, a GOP strategist, told the Daily Caller.

AUTHOR

REAGAN REESE

White House correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

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

College Football is a Microcosm of our Society

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Who is at Fault for the Transfer Portal Debacle: Colleges, or Athletes, or?

Welcome to my first post in 2024. Hope the upcoming year is rewarding to you.

I acknowledge I’m a fossil. I’m so old that I can remember when: 1) colleges took pride in having quality curriculums, and 2) a large factor in college athletes’ decision on which school to attend, was the academic value that they would get.

Yes, colleges made money on certain sports (football and basketball) but lost money on most others. The deal was that a scholarship football player received:  a) a free quality education [tuition, room, food, etc.], b) free expert training to maximize their skill set, c) free exposure so that if they were good, they could go on further, d) lots of interested girls, e) etc.

But as yet another indication of how bad the entitlement mentality has set in, this wasn’t enough. For example, these privileged students feel they should also get paid. But they already ARE getting paid. The benefits that football players are getting from major schools are easily equal to $100,000 per year (i.e., $400,000 in total)! Plus (to those who have the skills) they are effectively in a farm team for a professional career for REALLY big money.

Another entitlement mentality example is that these pampered students now feel they should be able to switch “teams” (i.e., colleges) essentially at will. In other words, they should have free agency to go to the highest bidder. This is now called going into the “transfer portal.” The current NCAA rules are that there is no penalty to the student for doing this! How many football students are ditching their former college? Last year there were over THREE THOUSAND. This year there is expected to be more.

One of many predictable adverse consequences of this absurdity is that teams who worked all year to get into a prestigious end-of-season bowl game, now show up at the game with a team that is nothing like they had all year! Here is a good list of all 2023 football bowl teams, and the regular players who will not be playing. For example, FSU won the championship of a major conference, and had beaten several top 20 teams during its undefeated season. However, FSU had at least eighteen players who chose not to play in their bowl game (and almost all were in the transfer portal). FSU got blown out 63 to 3!

Whatever happened to such virtues as loyalty or appreciation? Part of the answer is to look at the other side of the coin: the colleges. Some arguments that the schools are mostly responsible for this fiasco:

  1. They set a bad example by changing Conferences. For example, my alma mater (Boston College) was doing fine as an active member of the Big East Conference. However, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) had negotiated better TV deals, etc. (i.e., more money to each of its members), so BC (and others) switched to the ACC. No loyalty there. Greed continues as this year SMU, Stanford, and Cal will join the ACC. Those schools were extracted from another Conference. (FYI, as another indication of our collective decline in general intelligence, apparently no one noticed that SMU, Stanford, and Cal are not remotely near the Atlantic Coast. Who cares, since, there is big money at stake.)
  2. One of the primary enticements for student-athletes, is that no matter what happened sport-wise, they would get a quality education. However, over the last few decades, college educational offerings have become severely diluted. The simplest assessment here is that: a) Critical Thinking is the most important skill that a graduate can obtain, and b) it is generally NOT being taught in colleges.
  3. Colleges have had no compunction about throwing students under the bus. The best recent example of this is what happened with COVID. These “higher education” institutions should be bastions of real Science. In other words, they have the ammunition (degreed experts, the labs, the research facilities, etc.) to be able to quickly squash political science (e.g., COVID mask and treatment policies pushed by government politicians and agencies). However, instead of defending Science, they capitulated to political pressure. Again, a poor example to students.
  4. Colleges have allowed themselves to become Left-wing breeding grounds due to the huge numbers of Left-wing professors they hired. They are now indoctrinating students with Woke ideology. This includes instilling in them not only a victim mentality (e.g., reparations), but also no loyalty or respect (e.g., distorting Science, American history, etc.). Who would have guessed that they would take these out on the very institutions that instilled it in them? Poetic justice?

There is plenty of blame to go around here. For my money, the adults in the room (colleges) are the primary culprits (see above). Although some people are writing about this calamity — like here — few of them are examining the underlying problems that have led to this mess.

The Bottom Line

This issue is a microcosm of what is happening in society in general. We have departed from the Judeo-Christian standards America was founded on, and are instead emphasizing secular standards like relativism. This philosophy is a breeding ground for entitlement mentalities, every man person for themself, the end justifies the means, etc.

Maybe seeing the horrific consequences of what is going on in “higher education” — and sports academics in particular — might jar us awake before it’s too late to change course?

Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2023 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?

Elon Musk And His Businesses Faced Multi-Agency Crackdown From Biden Admin In 2023

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In the first full year of Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter — now X, President Joe Biden’s administration repeatedly targeted the billionaire and his companies, taking regulatory action against them throughout 2023.

Several agencies under the Biden administration launched investigations and instituted other consequential reviews into Musk’s businesses. Entities including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against them in 2023 as Musk ran X.

“I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries … is worthy of being looked at, whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that,” Biden said in November 2022 shortly after Musk purchased Twitter. “I’m suggesting that [it’s] … worth being looked at … that’s all I’ll say.”

Musk and his companies have since been in the administration’s crosshairs.

“I don’t think the whole administration has it out for me,” Musk stated in September on the All-In Podcast. “But I think there’s probably aspects of the administration … or aspects of interests aligned with President Biden who probably do not wish good things for me.”

Most recently, the FCC decided to rescind a $885 million award to Musk’s SpaceX for its Starlink to provide fast broadband internet service to over 640,000 homes and businesses in rural areas in December. This was an example of the Biden administration’s “regulatory harassment” of Musk, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr alleged in a statement dissenting from the decision.

“Doesn’t make sense,” Musk posted in response to the rejection. “Starlink is the only company actually solving rural broadband at scale!”

The FCC reached its decision because Starlink failed to show it could meet the requirements to provide the services with funds from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, it asserted. However, Carr says this is a standard that has never been used before.

“[The FCC’s decision] is belied by the fact that the U.S. government is entering into multimillion dollar contracts with Elon Musk, with Starlink, for high-speed connectivity when it matters the most — for military operations and otherwise — so it simply isn’t credible for the FCC to be claiming that they have concerns about this technology when other components of the federal government are leaning in so heavily,” Carr told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview.

Moreover, the DOJ filed a complaint against SpaceX  in August for alleged discrimination based on its hiring policies, according to court documents. The DOJ accused SpaceX of discrimination against individuals seeking asylum and refugees by not hiring them.

“US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology,” Musk posted on June 20. However, this is not true, according to the complaint.

The FAA blocked SpaceX from launching its Starship rocket until it completed 63 corrective actions following it bursting into flames in April, according to the agency on Sept. 8.

“Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval,” Musk had posted on Sept. 5. He also posted a checklist of SpaceX’s progress in completing the corrective actions on Sept. 10.

The Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS), which is under the Department of the Interior, also held up the Starship launch, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 18. It had not started its official review of the April explosion at that point, which was necessary for the FAA to finalize its approval.

FWS found some charred crabs and quail eggs shortly after the April launch, according to Bloomberg.

“Once the Service reviews FAA’s final biological assessment and deems it complete, consultation will be re-initiated and we will have 135 days to issue a final biological assessment,” FWS public affairs specialist Aubry Buzek told Bloomberg. “At any time FAA and the Service can agree to extend that time if for some reason we need to gather further information or new information is presented.”

The FAA eventually approved Starship to launch on Nov. 17 and it launched the following day, according to Reuters.

When Musk received pushback in November for replying to an alleged antisemitic post about Western Jews advocating for “dialectical hatred against whites” by stating, “You have said the actual truth,” the White House joined in on the criticism.

“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates stated.

Furthermore, the DOJ and SEC are investigating Musk’s electric car company Tesla’s alleged allocation of funds toward a covert project, rumored to be the construction of a glass house for Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported in August.

“I’m not building a house of any kind, let alone a glass one!” Musk posted on X.

“[Musk] became a critic of the [Biden] administration and exposed the censorship regime,” Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie stated in September. “The DOJ has opened not one but two investigations of Elon Musk … To the American public, these look like mafia tactics.”

The EEOC sued Tesla for alleged racism in September, according to a lawsuit announced by the federal agency. Black staff allegedly dealt with many instances of racist abuse and derogatory slurs at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Fremont, California, from at least 2015 until 2023.

“Black employees at Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities have routinely endured racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility as well as epithets such as variations of the N-word, ‘monkey,’ ‘boy,’ and ‘black b*tch,’” according to the EEOC. “Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs. Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the N-word, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line.”

The SEC sued Musk in October to compel him to testify in the commission’s investigation into him for his purchase of Twitter in late 2022, according to Reuters. The commission is looking into whether his public statements and filings pertaining to the purchase were deceptive.

Despite Musk’s claims to the contrary, the SEC denies this is harassment in court documents.

The FTC has investigated X’s alleged lack of adherence to a 2022 administrative order pertaining to privacy, and depositions “revealed a chaotic environment at the company that raised serious questions about whether and how Musk and other leaders were ensuring X Corp.’s compliance,” according to a September DOJ filing.

The FTC has also issued over 350 requests for information from X since Musk took over, including the company’s collaborative work with journalists, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio asserted in July. Musk enabled journalists to publish  internal documents from X which preceded his takeover, called the “Twitter Files,” revealing that Biden campaign staff flagged content related to his son Hunter for the platform to suppress in December 2022.

“You’ve asked for every single communication relating to Elon Musk, not communications that he just sent to someone or communications he received, but any time he’s mentioned,” Jordan said. “More than harassment, that seems like almost an obsession.”

The White House, X, Tesla, SpaceX, FCC, DOJ, FAA and FWC did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The FTC, SEC and EEOC declined to comment.

AUTHOR

JASON COHEN

Contributor.

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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.

Rashid Khalidi’s Happy [Brutalized] Dhimmi Jews

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The vile, Jew-hating, ingratiating weasel, Rashid Khalidi is not so much an educator as he is a dedicated propagandist for the PLO and its spurious Arab Palestinian so-called “cause”, something that did not exist before 1964 and is based on a conglomeration of lies the size of Jupiter about the history of the Middle East in general and of Israel in particular.

It has been said that George Washington couldn’t tell a lie and that Richard Nixon couldn’t tell the truth, but Rashid Khalidi deliberately refuses to tell the difference.

This puts him in good company with his log time friend Barack Obama as well as Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, both of whom have a slippery foothold on the truth.

Read on.

Rashid Khalidi’s Happy Dhimmi Jews

By Andrew Harrod, :

“The idea that Jews in the Arab countries have always been subject to persecution culminating in their being forced to flee from the Arab countries is fundamentally false,” stated Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi in a December 14 webinar. Thus, this Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies and former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) propagandist whitewashed historic Islamic antisemitic doctrines that continue to threaten Jews to this day.

Khalidi spoke to the anti-Israel website Jadaliyya’s as part of its “Gaza in Context: Collaborative Teach-In Series” in an episode on “Colonial Narratives (Part 2).” Jadaliyya’s moderator was Bassam Haddad, director of George Mason University’s Middle East and Islamic Studies Program.

Khalidi propagated the well-worn trope, discredited as the “Happy Dhimmi” myth, that Jews, a subjugated non-Muslim minority, “lived in relative security and with relative prosperity” in Muslim countries across the centuries. Rather, “Europe was the source of antisemitism. Christian doctrine was the source of antisemitism,” he simplistically stated. Jews with backgrounds in the Mizrachi (Hebrew: Eastern) diaspora in the Muslim-majority countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) vigorously refute such one-sided assertions.

Nonetheless, Khalidi superficially claimed that the “situation of Jews in Europe was infinitely worse than in any other part of the world.” Therefore, Jews after 1492 “took refuge as a result when they were expelled in particular from Spain and Portugal in Morocco, in North Africa, in other parts of the Ottoman Empire,” he stated. Sultan Bayezid II’s supposed response to this influx of enterprising Jews into his empire prompted by Spanish royal intolerance has become historic. “Can such a king be called wise and intelligent—one who impoverishes his country and enriches my kingdom?” Bayezid II is recorded as saying.

Complicating Khalidi’s myopic thesis, however, other Iberian Jews fled to destinations in Europe such as Germany or Poland, while Ottoman rule also had its fair share of Jew persecution. Ultimately, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1648) became home to the majority of world Jewry and known as the Paradisus Judeaorum for the religious tolerance Jews enjoyed there. By 1860, 90 percent of world Jewry was in Europe, which raises the question why these Jews did not follow Khalidi’s analysis and move to a supposedly more tolerant Muslim world.

Europe remained a global Jewish center until before the Nazi genocide during World War II, with 57 percent of world Jewry, 9.5 million of 16.6 million Jews, living in Europe in 1939. When antisemitic persecution had arisen in Europe, the New World remained the preferred refuge of Jews, countries such as Argentina, home to about 200,000 Jews by the 1930s, and, above all, America. Accordingly, by the time the United States instituted immigration restrictions in 1924, American Jews numbered some 3.5 million, the world’s second-largest Jewish community after Eastern Europe.

While Jews throughout history have confronted bitter discrimination and oppression in Muslim societies, only in Western countries where citizenship has separated from religion have Jews ever experienced any sense of equality. Precisely for this reason, Jews and other non-Muslim communities in MENA often supported European colonialism, which eliminated Islam’s second-class sharia status for non-Muslims. Meanwhile in the West itself before World War II, for example, Jewish communities throughout Europe were increasingly assimilated while America has become the “golden land” for Jews alongside Israel, the “Promised Land.” Due to immigration from the former Soviet Union, even modern Germany saw its Jewish population by 2010 grow to over 230,000, slightly more than the 195,000 who lived in Nazi Germany in 1939 before the Holocaust’s ravages.

In contrast to the wildly varying historical experiences of Jews in the Western world, Khalidi bases his assessment on MENA Jews, who numbered only about one million in 1945. In the years following Israel’s establishment in 1948, brutal waves of repression against Jews spread across the MENA region, causing a long-term ethnic cleansing. Now only a few thousand Jews remain there in isolated, dying communities.

Such animosity, Khalidi suggested, arose merely because of modern Zionism, which “raised the specter of dual loyalty for Arab Jewish communities.” “There were never any conflicts between Arabs and Jews in Palestine before the rise of modern political Zionism,” he stated, notwithstanding the history of depredations and pogroms endured by Jews there in the nineteenth-century. Jews also “lived completely peacefully for centuries in Iraq,” he added, a ludicrously superficial assessment unsupported by centuries of history.

These views flow logically from Khalidi’s apparently key inspiration on Jewish-Muslim relations, namely Iraqi-born, British-Israeli historian Avi Schlaim, who has become a vociferous anti-Zionist. Khalidi seemed particularly enamored with Schlaim’s thesis that Israel through its Mossad intelligence service organized a bombing spree in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1950-1951 to scare Iraq’s supposedly otherwise content Jews into fleeing to Israel. Schlaim “discovered that the attacks that ultimately led the Jewish community to panic and flee were mounted, most of them, by the Mossad,” Khalidi claimed.

By contrast, all evidence indicates that 110,000 Jews who fled Iraq in these two years needed no incentive to flee an increasingly antisemitic, dangerous Iraq. These bombing incidents remained little-noticed and only claimed four deaths in one instance. While linkages between these bombings and Mossad is flimsy, most analysts think that Iraqi nationalists lay behind the bombings, as with previous anti-Jewish bombings in Iraqi history.

Yet Khalidi continues to suggest that Mizrachi Jews in Israel are just imagining the Islamic oppression they fled. In Israel, these Jews “became indoctrinated in Israel in ways have led them to become in some cases even more extreme in their views towards Arabs than other Israelis,” he stated. He could learn much from what Mizrachi Jews in the United States have felt after Hamas’ October 7 atrocious assault upon Israel from the Gaza Strip. As one Mizrachi Jewish activist noted, “violent imagery coming out of Israel has triggered a wave of anxiety and post-trauma among some of our elders who faced antisemitic mobs and ethnic cleansing” in MENA.

Similarly, Kibbutz Be’eri has become notorious as the October 7 “Ground Zero,” which cost this kibbutz 100 dead, a tenth of the community’s residents. The kibbutz’s founders include Iraqi Jews, who had trekked the desert to the outgoing British League of Nations Palestine Mandate in 1947 after having witnessed the horrors of Baghdad’s 1941 Farhud pogrom. Meanwhile Sderot, a town often targeted by Hamas rockets, developed from an Israeli transit camp (ma’abara) for North African and Iranian Jewish refugees.

Fantasizing about Jews at peace with Islam comports with Khalidi’s embrace of the longstanding trope that Zionism is not truly indigenous to the Middle East. “Zionism is a modern Eastern European nationalist movement transplanted to the Middle East,” he stated, which ignores Zionist traditions among Mizrachi Jews. He also asserted that “about 70 percent of the immigrants to Israel come from Europe and North America,” which might have been true during Israel’s pre-state settlement, but today over half of Israel’s Jews are from Mizrachi backgrounds.

Khalidi also found “questionable” whether Western diaspora Ashkenazi Jews “have any genetic connection to” the MENA region. This invoked the discredited thesis that Jews in the European diaspora merely descended from converts. Contrarily, modern genetics has demonstrated the connections of Jews from European and other diaspora backgrounds to one common Jewish nation.

Israel’s defenders, Khalidi complained, resort to the “last refuge of scoundrels, using power to prevent speech, using power to prevent organization, they have no arguments,” but merely call opponents “antisemitic” and “genocidal.” Yet his denial of Islam’s historically rampant Jew-hatred is not only substantially antisemitic, but only aids and abets the rhetoric supporting the modern genocidal jihad against Israel’s existence. Khalidi is just one more sickening example of how radical ideology has poisoned the Ivy League and wider academia.

AUTHOR

Paul Schnee

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

UNRWA is a Terrorist Organization

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It must be prosecuted and dismantled.

The U.N. agency is aligned with the jihad force.

The United Nations was founded over seventy years ago in the wake of the Holocaust to ensure “never again.” Democracies, both nascent and well-established, comprised the majority of the founding nations of the UN. America was confident that the UN would be an organization which would work in tandem with American national interests in promoting the welfare of humankind and the basic rights of every human spirit.

It has become the very thing it was founded to defeat.

Just as the League of Nations was dissolved because it failed in its primary purpose to prevent world war, The United Nations has failed in its primary purpose and should be dismantled.

The United Nations “should cease to exist except for the sole purpose of the liquidation of its affairs.” They have devolved to an arm of the jihad force.

How UNRWA Grooms Terrorists

By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone, December 26, 2023:

  • By providing the residents of the Gaza Strip with various services, UNRWA exempted Hamas from its responsibilities as the governing body, such as creating a working economy that would pay for education and healthcare, and allowed it, instead, to invest resources in building tunnels and manufacturing weapons.
  • “They [UNRWA] teach us that the Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to us [Muslims], that Palestine belongs to us,” said Atif Sharha, a student at an UNRWA school.
  • “Yes, they teach us that the Zionists are our enemy,” said Nur Taha, a third-year student from Kalandia. “We should carry out an [terror] operation against them [Zionists].”
  • “The Palestinian matriculation exams [at UNRWA] have become a finishing school in extremism. It is as if the Palestinian Authority is cramming as much hate into the tests as possible, to ensure the twelve previous years of indoctrination stay with them into adulthood.” — Marcus Sheff, CEO at the Institute for Cultural Peace and Tolerance in School Education, i24news.tv, July 23, 2023.
  • Despite years of considerable condemnation of the textbooks, newly produced editions, approved by UNRWA, are exponentially worse….
  • Whatever hopes that anyone may have held for the trustworthiness of UNRWA have long expired, and were arguably misplaced at the outset. UNRWA, in its current state, has proven itself irremediably defective, unworkable and yet another massive stain on the already scandalously stained UN.
  • It is high time for the international community and those who actually want a better future for the Palestinians to liquidate UNRWA and take actions that truly help the Palestinians move forward to a golden life.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was originally a small agency mandated to provide basic humanitarian relief for Palestinians, including a vote for renewal every three years. Seventy-three years and four generations later, and with more than 30,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $1 billion, it has astonishingly become one of the largest UN agencies.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, UNRWA has, in fact, long been operating as the de facto government. By providing the residents of the Gaza Strip with various services, UNRWA exempted Hamas from its responsibilities as the governing body, such as creating a working economy that would pay for education and healthcare, and allowed it, instead, to invest resources in building tunnels and manufacturing weapons. If UNRWA were not there, Hamas would have been forced to fill the vacuum and, for example, build hospitals and schools and find solutions to economic hardship, including unemployment and poverty.

As senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk said, in explaining why no cement could be spared from terror tunnels to build bomb shelters for Gazan citizens:

“The tunnels were built to protect the fighters of Hamas from [Israeli] airstrikes. As you know, 75% of the residents of the Gaza Strip are refugees. It is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect the refugees.”

Hamas was effectively saying: We are responsible for what happens underground, while UNRWA is responsible for what happens above ground.

In addition to evolving into a monster-sized agency, UNRWA has also morphed into a very costly incubator for terror. UNRWA-run schools emphasize and promote the “right of return,” a euphemism for flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians and turning it into a Muslim-majority Islamist state backed by Iran.

More than 50% of UNRWA’s annual budget of $1.6 billion is dedicated to funding Palestinian schools. These schools have been fostering war-mongering hatred against Israel, and against Jews in general, from the youngest, most impressionable ages and onward throughout the school years, while predictably churning out their final product: terrorists and terrorist sympathizers.

“They [UNRWA] teach us that the Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to us [Muslims], that Palestine belongs to us,” said Atif Sharha, a student at a UNRWA school in the Shuafat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

“I hate the Jews,” said Yousef, another student at a UNRWA school in Kalandia refugee camp, south of Ramallah.

“Yes, they teach us that the Zionists are our enemy,” said Nur Taha, a third student from Kalandia. “We should carry out an [terror] operation against them [Zionists].”

There’s more, much more. Keep reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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https://twitter.com/emilykschrader/status/1739757515103932544?s=20

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